War means threat to people's lives. Research derived from terror management theory (TMT) illustrates that the awareness of death leads people to defend cultural ingroups and their worldviews to attain a sense of symbolic immortality and thereby buffer existential anxiety. This can result in hostile effects of mortality salience (MS), such as…

This article traces the history of obedience experiments that have used the Milgram paradigm. It begins with Stanley Milgram's graduate education, showing how some aspects of that experience laid the groundwork for the obedience experiments. It then identifies three factors that led Milgram to study obedience. The underlying principles or messages…

Comments on an article by Twenge on the issue of psychological traits that may differ with culture and ethnicity in discussing the partial replication of Milgram's obedience research (Burger, January 2009). But since a major stimulus for Milgram's research was the destruction of European Jewry (Benjamin & Simpson, January 2009; Blass, 2009), what…

Comments on a article by Blass (January 2009) who pointed out his historical perspective on human welfare problems facing a democratic society. The author would like to add some information from the cognitive-developmental framework that seems most pertinent to these larger issues of obedience and disobedience. It is relevant to note that a number…

Few psychological studies, if any, can claim a legacy as imposing as the obedience studies of Stanley Milgram. Their impact was of notable consequence in the separate spheres of research ethics, research design, and theory in psychology, and they changed the ways that psychologists conceptualize and conduct their research. The authors discuss the…

Feminist and critical race theories offer the concept of intersectionality to describe analytic approaches that simultaneously consider the meaning and consequences of multiple categories of identity, difference, and disadvantage. To understand how these categories depend on one another for meaning and are jointly associated with outcomes,…

The author conducted a partial replication of Stanley Milgram's (1963, 1965, 1974) obedience studies that allowed for useful comparisons with the original investigations while protecting the well-being of participants. Seventy adults participated in a replication of Milgram's Experiment 5 up to the point at which they first heard the learner's…

Jerry M. Burger's (see record 2008-19206-001) partial replication of Stanley Milgram's (1974) obedience study shows both the influence of culture and generations on behavior and the power of the situation. In Burger's data, disobedience has nearly doubled among male participants since the 1960s, a shift just as large as the increase in Americans'…

Comments on an article by J. T. Jost, which presented interesting data relating some personality dimensions to voting patterns in the last three U.S. presidential elections. R. K. Unger is surprised that in his extensive review of the role of ideology, Jost ignored the role of religious ideology in political attitudes and voting behavior. There is…

Comments on the article by G. M. Herek, "Legal recognition of same-sex relationships in the United States." There are many arguable contentions Herek made in his defense of same-sex marriage. We have chosen to focus on only one in this commentary: What is the active ingredient in marriage that serves the socially advantageous goal of civilizing…

A review of play in nonhuman animals indicates that play increases with phylogenetic status, is important for mature social development in more advanced species, reflects intentional activity, and is essential for the development of tool-using strategies. (Author)

Presents an historical survey of various theoretical schools in social psychology in the United States and divides them into two classes: the social psychology of the individual and that of the relation or group. Asserts that those theories which emphasize the individual are inadequate to explain social behavior. (Author/APM)

Discusses how psychological methods can be applied to study cultural syndromes and presents examples of these approaches. It is argued that tight-simple cultures are most collectivist, and loose-complex cultures are most individualistic. Further, it suggests homogeneous cultures can have clear norms and impose them tightly, whereas heterogeneous…

Discusses whether humans have a capacity to care about others, or if the target of concern is always oneself. Presents evidence that supports the empathy-altruism hypothesis, suggesting that humans are capable of empathy and caring for another in need. Discusses limits on human capacity for altruistic caring. (JS)

Presents pro and con comments with regards to 1975 APA presidential address under the heading of genetic basis of behavior--especially of altruism. Other comments are subsumed under the heading of biological versus social evolution, and the value of tradition. (Author/AM)