Life Leon Festinger

1 life

1.1 life , education
1.2 career
1.3 later life

life
early life , education

festinger born in brooklyn new york on may 8, 1919 russian-jewish immigrants alex festinger , sara solomon festinger. father, embroidery manufacturer, had left russia radical , atheist , remained faithful these views throughout life. festinger attended boys’ high school in brooklyn, , received bs degree in psychology city college of new york in 1939.

he proceeded study under kurt lewin @ university of iowa, festinger received ma in 1940 , phd in 1942 in field of child behavior. own admission, not interested in social psychology when arrived @ iowa, , did not take single course in social psychology during entire time there; instead, interested in lewin s earlier work on tension systems, lewin s focus had shifted social psychology time festinger arrived @ iowa. however, festinger continued pursue original interests, studying level of aspiration, working on statistics, developing quantitative model of decision making, , publishing laboratory study on rats. explaining lack of interest in social psychology @ time, festinger stated, looser methodology of social psychology studies, , vagueness of relation of data lewinian concepts , theories, seemed unappealing me in youthful penchant rigor.

after graduating, festinger worked research associate @ iowa 1941 1943, , statistician committee on selection , training of aircraft pilots @ university of rochester 1943 1945 during world war ii. in 1943, festinger married mary oliver ballou, pianist, whom had 3 children, catherine, richard, , kurt. festinger , ballou later divorced, , festinger married trudy bradley, professor of social work @ new york university, in 1968.

career

in 1945, festinger joined lewin’s newly formed research center group dynamics @ massachusetts institute of technology assistant professor. @ mit festinger, in own words, became, fiat, social psychologist, , immersed myself in field difficulties, vaguenesses, , challenges. @ mit festinger began foray social communication , pressures in groups marked turning point in own research. festinger himself recalls, years @ m.i.t. [sic] seemed momentous, ground breaking, new beginning of important. indeed, stanley schachter, festinger’s student , research assistant @ time, states, lucky enough work festinger @ time, , think of 1 of high points of scientific life.

yet, endeavor started accident while festinger conducting study on impact of architectural , ecological factors on student housing satisfaction university. although proximity effect (or propinquity) important direct finding study, festinger , collaborators noticed correlations between degree of friendship within group of residents , similarity of opinions within group, raising unexpected questions regarding communication within social groups , development of group standards of attitudes , behaviors. indeed, festinger’s seminal 1950 paper on informal social communication function of pressures toward attitude uniformity within group cites findings seemingly unrelated housing satisfaction study multiple times.

after lewin’s death in 1947, festinger moved research center university of michigan in 1948. moved university of minnesota in 1951, , on stanford university in 1955. during time, festinger published highly influential paper on social comparison theory, extending prior theory regarding evaluation of attitudes in social groups evaluation of abilities in social groups. following this, in 1957, festinger published theory of cognitive dissonance, arguably famous , influential contribution field of social psychology. view extension of festinger’s prior work on group pressures toward resolving discrepancies in attitudes , abilities within social groups how individual resolves discrepancies @ cognitive level. festinger received considerable recognition during time work, both within field, being awarded distinguished scientific contribution award american psychological association in 1959, , outside of field, being named 1 of america’s ten promising scientists fortune magazine shortly after publishing social comparison theory.

despite such recognition, festinger left field of social psychology in 1964, attributing decision conviction had been growing in me @ time i, personally, in rut , needed injection of intellectual stimulation new sources continue productive. turned attention visual system, focusing on human eye movement , color perception. in 1968, festinger returned native new york city, continuing perception research @ new school, known new school social research. in 1979, closed laboratory, citing dissatisfaction working on narrower , narrower technical problems.

later life

writing in 1983, 4 years after closing laboratory, festinger expressed sense of disappointment , field had accomplished:

forty years in own life seems long time me , while things have been learned human beings , human behavior during time, progress has not been rapid enough; nor has new knowledge been impressive enough. , worse, broader point of view not seem have been working on many of important problems.

festinger subsequently began exploring prehistoric archaeological data, meeting stephen jay gould discuss ideas , visiting archaeological sites investigate primitive toolmaking firsthand. efforts culminated in book, human legacy, examined how humans evolved , developed complex societies. although seemingly product of disillusioned, wholesale abandonment of field of psychology, festinger considered research return fundamental concerns of psychology. described goal of new research interests “see[ing] can inferred different vantage points, different data realms, nature, characteristics, of species call human,” , felt bemused when fellow psychologists asked him how new research interests related psychology.

festinger’s next , final enterprise understand why idea accepted or rejected culture, , decided examining why new technology adopted in west not in eastern byzantine empire illuminate issue. however, festinger diagnosed cancer before able publish material. decided not pursue treatment, , died on february 11, 1989.