Psychological Study Of Social Issues Research Articles

“The Approved Bureaucratic Torpor”: Goodwin Watson, Critical Psychology, and the Dilemmas of Expertise, 1930–1945

The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) played an important role in expanding the mandate and influence of American psychology. This article examines the nature of that role through a consideration of the early career of SPSSI's first president, Goodwin Watson. During the Depression, Watson encouraged psychologists to abandon value neutrality and political disinterestedness in favor of politically committed activist science. Government service and political persecution during World War II prompted Watson to conclude that his Depression‐era views had neglected the problematic interface between psychological expertise and policy formation. Responding to these concerns, Watson adopted a professional model that emphasized psychology's neutrality and objectivity. The article also considers the implications of his experience for contemporary debates on psychology's professional orientation.

Creating a Consensus: Psychologists, the Supreme Court, and School Desegregation, 1952-1955

SPSSI psychologists' involvement in the early civil rights movement in the postwar United States was epitomized by their involvement in the case of Brown v. Board of Education. This article examines how social scientists sought to maintain the persona of objective, scientific expert when asked to prepare briefs for the U.S. Supreme Court for the Brown case. The social scientists believed that only by collapsing what they saw as an artificial distinction between objectivity and advocacy could the social scientist become a social activist. This article is based on extensive research in numerous archives, including the papers of Gordon W. Allport, Kenneth B. Clark, Stuart W. Cook, David Krech, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Theodore M. Newcomb, Robert Redfield, and the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues.

Theoretical, Empirical, and Practical Approaches to Intergroup Conflict

The study of intergroup relations has long been an interest of social scientists, particularly members of The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. The articles in this issue offer a wide variety of theoretical, empirical, and practical approaches to understanding and resolving national and international group conflict. This introductory article summarizes the original social psychological work that laid the foundation for contemporary thinking on intergroup relations, and presents an overview of each of the contributions in this issue. Also discussed are applications of social psychology to real‐world intergroup conflicts.

Introduction of the 1995 Kurt Lewin Memorial Award Recipient: Marilynn B. Brewer

It is my great pleasure to introduce Dr. Marilynn Brewer, Regents Professor of Psychology at the Ohio State University and this year's recipient of the Kurt Lewin Memorial Award. This award is given annually by the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues to an individual whose career and professional achievements reflect the values and ideals of Kurt Lewin. It was the judgment of the 1995 committee members, Peggy Clark, Jack Dovidio, and myself that Dr. Brewer is an extremely appropriate recipient of this award. But, before I tell you about Dr. Brewer, I want to briefly discuss some aspects of Kurt Lewin's life, some of his contributions to social issues and action research, and the origins of this award. Then I will tell you about Marilynn Brewer and some of the reasons why we chose her for this award.

The politics of scientific social reform, 1936–1960: Goodwin Watson and the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues

This paper explores the development and subsequent transformation of a “radical” professional model in American psychology. Its focal point is Goodwin Watson and the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI), an organization Watson helped found in 1936. During the Depression, he and many of his SPSSI colleagues called upon psychologists to abandon value neutrality and political disinterestedness in favor of an explicit set of social democratic goals and left-wing political alliances. Government service and political persecution during World War II led Watson to conclude that his Depression-era calls for sweeping change in psychology had neglected a number of significant political dimensions. Of particular importance was the problematic interface between psychological expertise and policy formation. In response to this concern, Watson encouraged the development of the now familiar model of the psychologist as a disinterested purveyor of value-neutral expertise. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

The politics of scientific social reform, 1936–1960: Goodwin Watson and the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues

The politics of scientific social reform, 1936–1960: Goodwin Watson and the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues

Juggling, by Faye J. Crosby. New York: The Free Press, 1991

Human Resource ManagementVolume 31, Issue 3 p. 267-270 Book Review Juggling, by Faye J. Crosby. New York: The Free Press, 1991 Barbara A. Gutek, Barbara A. Gutek Barbara A. Gutek is a professor at the University of Arizona. She received her Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Michigan in 1975 and has been on the faculties at the University of California, Los Angeles and the Claremont Graduate School. Topics of research include gender issues in organizations, use of computers in work groups, interaction in groups, and survey research methods. Among her publications are several books including Sex and the Workplace (Jossey-Bass, 1985). Her research on has been funded by the National Science Foundation (Information Technology and Organizations Program) and the National Institute of Mental Health. Gutek is a Fellow in the American Psychological Association and American Psychological Society. She has served elected positions in the Academy of Management and Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. For 1992–1993, she is a visiting professor at the California Institute of Technology funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation.Search for more papers by this author Barbara A. Gutek, Barbara A. Gutek Barbara A. Gutek is a professor at the University of Arizona. She received her Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Michigan in 1975 and has been on the faculties at the University of California, Los Angeles and the Claremont Graduate School. Topics of research include gender issues in organizations, use of computers in work groups, interaction in groups, and survey research methods. Among her publications are several books including Sex and the Workplace (Jossey-Bass, 1985). Her research on has been funded by the National Science Foundation (Information Technology and Organizations Program) and the National Institute of Mental Health. Gutek is a Fellow in the American Psychological Association and American Psychological Society. She has served elected positions in the Academy of Management and Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. For 1992–1993, she is a visiting professor at the California Institute of Technology funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation.Search for more papers by this author First published: Autumn (Fall) 1992 https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.3930310310 AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Volume31, Issue3Special Issue: Work and FamilyAutumn (Fall) 1992Pages 267-270 RelatedInformation

Introduction: The Heritage of Kurt Lewin

This journal issue commemorates the recent 100th anniversary of the birth of Kurt Lewin, a founder of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues and of this, SPSSI's journal. It appears that his influence in academic social psychology has declined of late, but a review of recent literature reveals that Lewin's thought and work still guide activity in applied social psychology, particularly studies of groups, and in the practice of action research. The articles in this issue further demonstrate that contemporary social scientists find stimulation and direction for theory, research, and action in Lewin's legacy.

Women, Psychology, and Social Issues Research

This article reviews the history of women psychologists' contributions to social issues research. The first part describes the work of a few remarkable women in the early part of the century whose scientific participation and feminist orientations were equally unusual. It then focuses on the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI), which was founded in 1937, and traces the various stages of women's participation in it, beginning with its essentially all male leadership for over 20 years (with a few notable exceptions), through the flurry of short-lived feminist concerns after World War II, to the dramatic upsurge of female leadership and scholarship of the past two decades. Some potential reasons for the 20-year hiatus between postwar feminist interests and similar concerns in the late 1960s are discussed.

Too Good to be False: An Essay in the Folklore of Social Science

In 1939, Carl Hovland and Robert R. Sears presented data that they believed linked fluctuations in the price of cotton to lynchings in the South, a linkage first suggested six years earlier by Arthur Raper. This correlation quickly became a popular illustration of frustration‐aggression theory. A few years later, a statistical critique by Alexander Mintz cast the reality of the association into doubt, but a sample survey of members of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues reveals that Howland and Sears's “finding” is still widely, if imprecisely, known and accepted. Their article continues to be cited in the social‐psychological literature and in many introductory textbooks. The failure of Mintz's critique to catch up with the striking but flawed, original report illustrates a structured impediment to reliable knowledge in the social sciences.

Academic Freedom, Civil Liberties, and SPSSI

An implicit goal of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) at its founding was the protection of members who investigated controversial social issues. This essay reviews SPSSI's work in defense of academic and intellectual freedom from 1936 to 1970, using committee records, private correspondence, and published documents. Cases reviewed are those of Ellis Freeman, David Krech, George Hartmann, Goodwin Watson, Gardner Murphy, Ralph Gundlach, Bernard Riess, Harry Steinmetz, and Lawrence Northwood. Also reviewed is SPSSI's involvement in the University of California loyalty oath dispute and in Health, Education and Welfare's (HEW) blacklisting of scientific consultants. While its efforts cannot be said to have achieved notably successful outcomes, the Society's moral and financial support was helpful to those under attack. Overall, SPSSI's efforts were an important positive contribution with implications for the present and future.

Screening People In, Not Out: Comment on Morawski

My own perspective on the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) differs from Morawski's (1986). Whereas other professional organizations may have shared SPSSI's assumptions about the importance of “science” in the solution of societal problems, they operated far more in the mainstream of the professionally acceptable and the commercially remunerative. I think that the members of most other contemporary organizations incurred little professional risk and also contributed little to broadening the horizons of the psychological establishment.

The Psychological Insurgency: 1936–1945

The materials for this paper come from extensive archival research and oral histories conducted from 1973 to 1985. The materials are used to show how and why the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) and related organizations developed as they did. I argue that these organizations developed in four principal contexts: first, the employment crises of social scientists during the thirties; second, the central contradiction between social scientists' self‐perception as “value free” and their perceived responsibility to respond to the economic and cultural crises of the period; third, the relative positions of various leftist political groups of the time, their sectarian strife, and the influence of the Popular Front; and fourth, connections to power elites during World War II.

Psychologists for Society and Societies for Psychologists: SPSSI's Place Among Professional Organizations

The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) has been a prominent conduit for American psychologists' involvement in political and social affairs. For years SPSSI has stood as the center of political activism in American psychology. An examination of SPSSI and several other professional organizations founded during the period between the two world wars indicates that, despite its activism, SPSSI shared with the others a set of conventional assumptions about the irrationality of human nature, an unstable social order, and the preference for scientific judgment. Early SPSSI documents also contain more radical aspirations: critical self‐reflection about the scientific enterprise, candid culture criticism, and political activism. However, these did not remain dominant in the organization. While being an occasion for celebration, the 50th anniversary of SPSSI also offers occasion to reevaluate these mixed commitments.

Networks of Leadership: A Quantitative Study of SPSSI Presidents, 1936–1986

This article presents a two‐part quantitative analysis of the presidents of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) during its first half century. A collective biography of the successive incumbents of SPSSI's highest office reveals centers of education and employment, and distinct demographic trends. A content analysis of available presidential addresses suggests enduring themes in the rhetoric of SPSSI leaders. The influence of significant individuals and events in fostering networks among members of the presidential cohort is explored, along with the role of SPSSI leaders in the development of social psychology. Biographical and other data are presented in tabular as well as summary form.

Looking Toward the Future by Looking at the Past: Social Activism and Social History

This article examines the value of social history for researchers interested in current social problems. It reviews the critiques of early leaders of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) of a particular problem area—social power—and surveys research practices subsequent to these criticisms to see if there was any response to them. The impact of ignoring specific individual and global circumstances, and the effect of implicit theories and unexamined definitions, are considered as factors impeding the development of a truly problem‐focused social psychology. An integration of social history, the sociology of knowledge, and social psychology is suggested as an alternative to the search for “timeless truths.”

Reviewing 50 Years of the Psychology of Social Issues

In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI), selected histories of psychology are reviewed for information on SPSSI and the social context of its early development. Differences in method and perspective in the historical literature are noted. Contradictions in SPSSI's political, professional, and scientific character are attributed to its purpose of supplying scientific expertise in the service of social reform.

The Kurt Lewin Memorial Award Presentation by The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues to Milton Rokeach

The Kurt Lewin Memorial Award Presentation by The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues to Milton Rokeach

Violence and Crime in Cross-National Perspective

This prizewinning reference work provides data on crime in 110 nations and 44 major cities, making it possible for the first time to examine the patterns and causes of violent crime on a cross-national basis. Winner of the 1985 Prize for Behavioral Science Research from the American Association for the Advancement of Science Winner of the 1986 Distinguished Scholar Award from the American Sociological Association's Criminology Section Winner of the 1985 Award for Outstanding Scholarship given by the Society for the Study of Social Problems Winner of the Gordon Allport Prize from the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues

The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, Peace Action, and Theories of Conflict: 1936–1950.

The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, Peace Action, and Theories of Conflict: 1936–1950.