Before the measurement of prejudice: early psychological and sociological papers on prejudice

Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences
Russell J WebsterRichard J Harris

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.

References

Apr 1, 1990·Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences·M M Sokal
Nov 25, 2000·The British Journal of Surgery·A Singer
Oct 20, 2001·History of Psychology·Ian A M Nicholson
Apr 19, 2003·History of Psychology·John D Greenwood
Jun 2, 2006·Journal of Personality and Social Psychology·Thomas F Pettigrew, Linda R Tropp
Jun 28, 2008·Perspectives on Psychological Science : a Journal of the Association for Psychological Science·John A Bargh, Ezequiel Morsella
Jul 5, 1947·Lancet·P COLLARD, D KENDALL

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