Morton Deutsch (February 4, 1920 – March 13, 2017) was an American

social psychologist Social psychology is the scientific study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people or by social norms. Social psychologists typically explain human behavior as a result of the re ...

and researcher in

conflict resolution Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of conflict and retribution. Committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating information abo ...

. Deutsch was one of the founding fathers of the field of conflict resolution. A ''

Review of General Psychology ''Review of General Psychology'' is the quarterly scientific journal of the American Psychological Association Division 1: The Society for General Psychology. The journal publishes cross-disciplinary psychological articles that are conceptual, the ...

'' survey, published in 2002, ranked Deutsch as the 63rd most cited psychologist of the 20th century.

Early life and education

Morton Deutsch was born in 1920 in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Yor ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, into a family with three other children. By age 15 he was enrolled in university at the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

. Deutsch started on a path into psychiatry, but switched to psychology after dissecting a guinea pig in a biology class. He received a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

from the

in 1939 and his

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. ...

in 1940 from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...

. After his M.A. degree, Deutsch held a rotating internship that cycled between three New York State institutions: Letchworth Village (for the mentally incompetent), Warwick (for delinquent boys), and Rockland State Hospital (for

mentally disturbed A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

children and adults). Deutsch joined the

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signa ...

after the Japanese

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawai ...

, where he initially acted as a

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how in ...

, then as a

navigator A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's primar ...

flying in thirty bombing missions over

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. During active combat Deutsch was honored with a Distinguished Flying Cross (and cluster) and an

Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establish ...

(with three clusters). After his tour of duty was completed he served as a clinical psychologist in an Air Force convalescent hospital until his discharge. Subsequently, he studied at MIT under

Kurt Lewin Kurt Lewin ( ; 9 September 1890 – 12 February 1947) was a German-American psychologist, known as one of the modern pioneers of social, organizational, and applied psychology in the United States. During his professional career Lewin applied ...

, where he was graduated with a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in 1948. He wrote his dissertation comparing the psychological effects and productivity of cooperative groups and competitive groups. Deutsch worked as a part of Lewin's Research Center for Group Dynamics, and his early research was largely tinged by the growing global concern with

nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

s. He was also tasked with instructing introductory psychology classes to undergraduate students, in which he undertook an experiment comparing cooperative and competitive grading processes. This led to the major theoretical contribution Deutsch made during his early career; the "Theory of Cooperation and Competition", which studies

interdependence Systems theory is the interdisciplinary study of systems, i.e. cohesive groups of interrelated, interdependent components that can be natural or human-made. Every system has causal boundaries, is influenced by its context, defined by its struct ...

among goals (cooperative versus competitive) and types of actions taken (effective versus bungling). The study uses three concepts to develop their implications for the social processes and personal relations that occur in groups: substitutability (how a person's actions are able to satisfy the intentions of another),

cathexis In psychoanalysis, cathexis (or emotional investment) is defined as the process of allocation of mental or emotional energy to a person, object, or idea. Origin of term The Greek term ''cathexis'' (κάθεξις) was chosen by James Strache ...

(an individual's disposition to evaluate themselves or their surroundings), and inducibility (the readiness of an individual to accept the influence of another person). The theory was first presented in a paper published in 1949. While at MIT Deutsch also met his future wife Lydia Shapiro when he was assigned to supervise her work under Lewin. They married on June 1, 1947, a year and a half after they met, and have remained together ever since.

Early career

One of the first projects of Deutsch's academic career was a study of group tension and racial attitudes as a part of the Commission on Community Interrelations of the American Jewish Congress. The goal of the Commission's work was to break through the apathy that the American society of the time had against

religious Religion is usually defined as a social-cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

racial prejudice Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

. In 1951, Deutsch and coauthor Mary Evans Collins, working out of the Research Center for Human Relations at

NYU New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, t ...

(where Deutsch had started working in 1949), produced a study comparing racially integrated housing in New York with racially segregated housing in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.policy of segregation. The results of their study led to a reversal of policy in publicly held residential developments and to the belief that segregated housing was undemocratic. The study was published under the title ''Interracial Housing'' by the

University of Minnesota Press The University of Minnesota Press is a university press that is part of the University of Minnesota. It had annual revenues of just over $8 million in fiscal year 2018. Founded in 1925, the University of Minnesota Press is best known for its book ...

in May of that year. In a 1951 newspaper interview with Louis Danzing, the Director for the segregated housing projects stated that, "The study has served as a catalyst to the re-examination of our basic interracial policies in housing and as a stimulus to their change. Many of us have long felt that artificial separation of colored and white families was an unwholesome procedure. However until the study of Dr. Deutsch and Mrs. Collins, we had no scientific evidence to substantiate our feelings." Modern commentators have accredited Deutsch's research as a valuable contribution to the end of segregation policies in the United States. In 1951 Deutsch also published the textbook ''Research Methods in Social Relations'' with coauthors Marie Jahoda and Stuart W. Cook, a book that would go on to three editions over the following twenty-five years. In 1954, Deutsch began studying at the Postgraduate Center for

Psychotherapy Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome prob ...

, where he graduated as a professionally trained psychoanalytic psychotherapist in 1957. In addition to his work as a social psychologist, he conducted a small practice as a psychotherapist until his retirement in the late 1980s. In 1956, he joined the staff of the

Bell Telephone Laboratories Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984), then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996) and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007), is an American industrial research and scientific development company owned by mult ...

, where he did research on interpersonal bargaining and small group processes. While at Bell one of the more prominent experiments he conducted was the Acme-Bolt Trucking game, which concluded that when an individual has the opportunity to apply threat to another in competition they will use it and that this threatening behavior does not lead to cooperation. Deutsch also co-edited the book ''Preventing World War III'' in 1962. This work continued from his initial concerns with nuclear warfare, including the idea of

nuclear deterrence Deterrence theory refers to the scholarship and practice of how threats or limited force by one party can convince another party to refrain from initiating some other course of action. The topic gained increased prominence as a military strategy ...

. As an expert in social psychology, he began appearing on television to discuss the developing field.

Career at Columbia University

In 1963 he made what would be his final move between institutions, when he started at

Teachers College, Columbia University Teachers College, Columbia University (TC), is the graduate school of education, health, and psychology of Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. Founded in 1887, it has served as one of the official faculties a ...

after being invited to found a new

social psychology Social psychology is the scientific study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people or by social norms. Social psychologists typically explain human behavior as a result of the re ...

doctoral program A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

. The two major works that resulted of his studies during this period are considered to be ''The Resolution of Conflict'' (published in 1973) and ''Distributive Justice'' (published in 1985). However he also published the book ''Theories in Social Psychology'' (1965) and ''Applying Social Psychology'' (1975) during this same period. Deutsch was the first psychologist to use the

Prisoner's Dilemma The Prisoner's Dilemma is an example of a game analyzed in game theory. It is also a thought experiment that challenges two completely rational agents to a dilemma: cooperate with their partner for mutual reward, or betray their partner ("defe ...

to study trust between small groups or pairings of individuals. During this period his work in conflict resolution continued to grow in influence, including his differentiation between constructive conflict and destructive conflict. The impact of his work was seen both in theory and in practice—for example, in 1989 both Janusz Grzelak (a leading figure of the

Solidarity movement Solidarity ( pl, „Solidarność”, ), full name Independent Self-Governing Trade Union "Solidarity" (, abbreviated ''NSZZ „Solidarność”'' ), is a Polish trade union founded in August 1980 at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland. Subse ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

) and Janusz Reykowski (a leading figure of the Communist Party of Poland) cited Deutsch's work as part of the infrastructure for the

peaceful transfer of power A peaceful transition or transfer of power is a concept important to democratic governments in which the leadership of a government peacefully hands over control of government to a newly-elected leadership. This may be after elections or during t ...

from the Communists to the people. Deutsch was appointed

Edward Lee Thorndike Edward Lee Thorndike (August 31, 1874 – August 9, 1949) was an American psychologist who spent nearly his entire career at Teachers College, Columbia University. His work on comparative psychology and the learning process led to the theory of c ...

Professor of

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

and

Education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. V ...

in 1981, and delivered his inaugural address on April 22, 1982. Through his work during this phase of his career, he became known as an authority in the fields of conflict resolution, social justice, intergroup relations, and social psychology. In 1986 Deutsch founded the International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution (ICCCR) at Columbia. The goal of the Center was to integrate the theory of conflict resolution with its actual practice. For example, in 1987 the Center was involved in training teachers in

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18th ...

and

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

to deal with inter-student and gang violence in lower-income communities. His work in this period also revolved around the concept of "distributive justice", relating to the distribution of goods and conditions affecting the well-being of individuals in a group, as a separate concept from procedural justice. This research culminated in his 1985 book ''Distributive Justice''. Another major theme of his work was the concept of "Crude Law", which studied the relationships between attitudes, behavior, and relationships. Through his research Deutsch determined that the typical effects of a given relationship tend to induce that relationship. Thus, the typical effects of cooperation induce friendly, helpful behavior and friendly, helpful behavior will induce a cooperative relationship. His Crude Law as well as his research into distributive justice expanded the breadth of his body of work in the field of conflict resolution.

Late career

Deutsch was also a founding member of the World Dignity University initiative and Global Advisory Board Member of the Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies organization. Variously Deutsch was also President of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, the

International Society of Political Psychology The International Society of Political Psychology (ISPP) is an interdisciplinary not-for-profit organization, representing all fields of enquiry involved with the exploration of relationships between both psychological and political processes and ...

, several divisions of the

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It has ...

(APA), as well as the Eastern Psychological Association and New York State Psychological Association. In 2005 the ICCCR inaugurated the annual Morton Deutsch Award, provided to both a scholar-practitioner in the field of social justice and also to the winner of a student paper competition. The ceremony for the awards is held each year in April. The International Society for Justice Research also inaugurated a Morton Deutsch Award in 2004, for the best article published in Social Justice Research. The Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict, and Violence: Peace Psychology Division of APA also offers an annual Morton Deutsch Conflict Resolution Award funded by the

royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset o ...

of Deutsch's book ''Handbook of Conflict Resolution: Theory and Practice'', given to a practitioner that contributes to the theory of the field of conflict resolution or vice versa. Deutsch officially retired from teaching in 1990 but authored more than 50 papers or book chapters between in his retirement,. Over his career he mentored nearly 70 PhD students, most of them at Teachers College. In 2005 author Erica Frydenberg wrote a

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

on Deutsch entitled ''Morton Deutsch: a Life and Legacy of Mediation and Conflict Resolution'' and in 2011 Peter Coleman edited the book ''Conflict, Interdependence, and Justice: The Intellectual Legacy of Morton Deutsch''. Articles profiling his life were also written in 2006 by John Jost and in an issue dedicated to his life in the journal ''Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology''. The

Columbia University Libraries Columbia University Libraries is the library system of Columbia University and one of the largest academic library systems in North America. With 15.0 million volumes and over 160,000 journals and serials, as well as extensive electronic resources ...

house the Morton Deutsch Collection, which consists of a print and online archive of his work. In his retirement, Deutsch served at Columbia as E.L. Thorndike Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Education.

Awards

In 1969 Deutsch was awarded the Kurt Lewin Memorial Award, named for his PhD mentor at MIT. He was awarded the 1993 and inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award given out every two years by the International Association for Conflict Management. His citation for the award stated that Deutsch had also won "the G. W. Allport Prize, the

Carl Hovland Carl Iver Hovland (June 12, 1912 – April 16, 1961) was a psychologist working primarily at Yale University and for the US Army during World War II who studied attitude change and persuasion. He first reported the sleeper effect after studying t ...

Memorial Award, and the AAAS Socio-psychological Prize, to mention a few. Dr. Deutsch has received several lifetime achievement awards for his work on conflict management, cooperative learning, peace psychology, and the applications of psychology to social issues". Deutsch was the recipient of the Teachers College Medal for Distinguished Service to Education,

Helsinki University The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as th ...

Medal for his contributions to psychology, and an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

from his alma mater CCNY. Deutsch received distinguished scientific contribution awards from three professional societies: the Society of Experimental Social Psychology in 1985; the American Psychological Association in 1987; and the William James Fellow Award of the

Association for Psychological Science The Association for Psychological Science (APS), previously the American Psychological Society, is an international non-profit organization whose mission is to promote, protect, and advance the interests of scientifically oriented psychology in ...

. He was the winner of the 1961 AAAS Prize for Behavioral Science Research. Deutsch was also awarded the 2006 James McKeen Cattell Fellow Award from the Association for Psychological Science. In addition to receiving these awards, he has been honored by the establishment of the Morton Deutsch Conflict Resolution Award by the International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution.ISJR site
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Books by Morton Deutsch

* Deutsch, M. (1973) ''The Resolution of Conflict: Constructive and Destructive Processes''. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. * Deutsch, M. (1985). ''Distributive Justice: A Social Psychological Perspective''. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. * Deutsch, M. & Coleman, P. T. (2012). ''Psychological Components of Sustainable Peace''. New York, NY: Springer. * Deutsch, M. & Coleman, P. T. (2000). ''The Handbook of Conflict Resolution: Theory and Practice''. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. * Deutsch, M., Coleman, P. T., & Marcus, E. C. (2006). ''The Handbook of Conflict Resolution: Theory and Practice (2nd ed.)''. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. * Deutsch, M. & Collins, M. E. (1951). ''Interracial Housing: A Psychological Evaluation of a Social Experiment''. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. * Deutsch, M. & Hornstein, H. (Eds.). (1975). ''Applying Social Psychology: Implications for Research, Practice and Training''. Hillsdale, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates. * Deutsch, M. & Krauss, R. M. (1965). ''Theories in Social Psychology''. New York, NY: Basic Books. * Jahoda, M., Deutsch, M., & Cook, S. W. (1951). ''Research Methods in Social Relations''. New York, NY: Holt & Dryden. * Wright, Q., Evan, W. M., & Deutsch, M. (1962). ''Preventing World War III: Some Proposals''. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.

References

External links

ICCCR home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deutsch, Morton 1920 births 2017 deaths 20th-century American Jews Moral psychologists Social psychologists Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Recipients of the Air Medal Teachers College, Columbia University faculty 21st-century American Jews United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II