Occupation: Psychologist Birth: March 23, 1933
We want to believe we are good, we are different, we are better, or we are superior. But this body of social-psychological research--and there are ob….
The level of shyness has gone up dramatically in the last decade. I think shyness is an index of social pathology rather than a pathology of the indi….
... In contrast to the "banality of evil," which posits that ordinary people can be responsible for the most despicable acts of cruelty and degradati….
I have been primarily interested in how and why ordinary people do unusual things, things that seem alien to their natures. Why do good people someti….
The Devil's strategy for our times is to trivialize human existence and isolate us from one another while creating the delusion that the reasons are ….
Part of what we want to do with the Heroic Imagination Project is to get kids to think about what it means to be a hero. The most basic concept of a ….
I was discriminated against because I was Jewish, Italian, black and Puerto Rican. But maybe the worst prejudice I experienced was against the poor. ….
Many cults start off with high ideals that get corrupted by leaders or their board of advisors who become power-hungry and dominate and control membe….
I've always been curious about the psychology of the person behind the mask. When someone is anonymous, it opens the door to all kinds of antisocial ….
Time is the backdrop of our lives and the very fabric of the cosmos..
Academic success depends on research and publications..
While no one can change events that occurred in the past, everyone can change attitudes and beliefs about them..
Human behavior is incredibly pliable, plastic..
Situational variables can exert powerful influences over human behavior, more so that we recognize or acknowledge..
My early childhood prepared me to be a social psychologist. I grew up in a South Bronx ghetto in a very poor family. From Sicilian origin, I was the ….
You are not the same person working alone as you are in a group; in a romantic setting versus an educational one; when you are with close friends or ….
Sticks and stones can break your bones, but names can kill you..
Societal expectations matter little; personal expectations matter tremendously..
Coming from New York, I know that if you go by a delicatessen, and you put a sweet cucumber in the vinegar barrel, the cucumber might say, "No, I wan….
There was zero time for reflection. We had to feed the prisoners three meals a day, deal with the prisoner breakdowns, deal with their parents, run a….
The "Lucifer Effect" describes the point in time when an ordinary, normal person first crosses the boundary between good and evil to engage in an evi….