Their primary research interests are in the study of the etiology, expression, and regulation of stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination, with a special focus on the justification-suppression model of prejudice and terror management theory.
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Research Article
Before the measurement of prejudice: Early psychological and sociological papers on prejudice
Article first published online: 9 JUL 2010
DOI: 10.1002/jhbs.20442
© 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Issue
1520-6696/asset/cover.gif?v=1&s=cd5d10273aaeac95f3104833a1aebeee1222a88e "Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences")
Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences
Volume 46, Issue 3, pages 300–313, Summer 2010
Additional Information
How to Cite
Webster, R. J., Saucier, D. A. and Harris, R. J. (2010), Before the measurement of prejudice: Early psychological and sociological papers on prejudice. J. Hist. Behav. Sci., 46: 300–313. doi: 10.1002/jhbs.20442
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Their primary research interests are in the study of the etiology, expression, and regulation of stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination, with a special focus on the justification-suppression model of prejudice and terror management theory.
Publication History
- Issue published online: 9 JUL 2010
- Article first published online: 9 JUL 2010
- Abstract
- Article
- References
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Abstract
Given its renown, many psychologists and sociologists likely consider the publication of Gordon Allport's (1954/1979) seminal book The Nature of Prejudice as the inauguration of the psychological study of prejudice. However, we have uncovered rarely-cited, published papers (starting in 1830) that provide a wealth of speculation on prejudice even before psychologists/sociologists attempted to measure it (circa 1925). Thus, this paper intends to discuss early published work on prejudice in psychology and sociology by focusing on three key questions: a) when did psychologists/sociologists recognize prejudice as a psychological phenomenon, b) when did psychologists/sociologists recognize prejudice as a phenomenon in need of study, and c) what were the historical and personal conditions that gave rise to the interest in prejudice? In short, the seeds of prejudice research were maturing for some time before Allport's seminal book and the first attitudinal studies on prejudice, although these earlier works are seldom cited. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.