David Guy Myers (born 20 September 1942) is an American psychologist who is a professor of

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

Hope College Hope College is a private Christian liberal arts college in Holland, Michigan, United States. It was originally opened in 1851 as the Pioneer School by Dutch immigrants four years after the community was first settled. The first freshman coll ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, United States, and the author of 17 books, including popular textbooks entitled ''Psychology'', ''Exploring Psychology'', ''Social Psychology'' and general-audience books dealing with issues related to

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

faith as well as scientific psychology. In addition, he has published chapters in over 60 books and numerous scholarly research articles in professional journals. Myers is widely recognized for his research on happiness and is one of the supporters of the positive psychological movement.

Life and career

Myers was born in Seattle, Washington, and graduated from Seattle's Queen Anne High School in 1960. He attended Whitworth University, from which he received his B.A. in chemistry, ''

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'', in 1964, having been a pre-med student. However, his graduate work went in a different direction, that of

social psychology Social psychology is the methodical study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Although studying many of the same substantive topics as its counterpart in the field ...

. He received his M.A. in social psychology in 1966 and his Ph.D. in social psychology the following year for thesis titled ''Enhancement of Initial Risk Taking Tendencies in Social Situations'', both at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

. Myers has spent most of his career at Hope College, rising from assistant professor (1967), associate professor (1970), and since 1975, full professor. He served as a visiting scholar at the

University of Mannheim The University of Mannheim (German: ''Universität Mannheim''), abbreviated UMA, is a public university, public research university in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1967, the university has its origins in the ''Palatine Aca ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in the summer of 1974, and at the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in 1985. Myers has received fellowships and grants from the U.S. Public Health Service and the

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

and is a fellow of the

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychologists in the United States, and the largest psychological association in the world. It has over 170,000 members, including scientists, educators, clin ...

, the American Psychological Society and the American Association of Applied and Preventive Psychology. He is one of the most important authors of psychology textbooks and is the recipient of honorary doctorates from three different educational institutions. According to the Open Syllabus Project, Myers is the most frequently cited author on college syllabi for psychology courses.

Books

Textbooks

*
Psychology
' (with C. Nathan Dewall, 13th edition, 2020) 978-1319132101 *
Exploring Psychology
' (with C. Nathan DeWall, 11th edition, 2019) 978-1319104191 *
Psychology in Everyday Life
' (with C. Nathan DeWall, 6th edition, 2023) 978-1319498665 *
Social Psychology
' (with

Jean Twenge Jean Marie Twenge (born August 24, 1971) is an American psychologist researching generational differences, including work values, life goals, and social attitudes. She is a professor of psychology at San Diego State University, author, consultan ...

, 14th edition, 2022) 978-1260888539 *
Social Psychology
' (with

and others, 8th Canadian edition, 2021) 978-1260327014 *
Exploring Social Psychology
' (with

, 9th edition, 2020) 978-1260254112 *
Myers' Psychology for the AP® Course
' (with C. Nathan DeWall, 3rd edition, 2018) 978-1319070502

Other books

''Psychology Through the Eyes of Faith''
(2002) 978-0060655570
''The Pursuit of Happiness: Who Is Happy--and Why''
(1992)978-1855382732
''A Quiet World: Living with Hearing Loss''
(2000) ASIN: B001CEU7BU
''The American Paradox: Spiritual Hunger in an Age of Plenty''
(2000) 978-0300091205 *''Psychology Through the Eyes of Faith'' (2002) with Malcolm A. Jeeves
''Intuition: Its Powers and Perils''
(2002) 978-0300103038
''What God Has Joined Together: The Christian Case for Gay Marriage''
(with Letha Dawson Scanzoni, 2005) 978-0060834548
''A Friendly Letter to Skeptics and Atheists: Musings on Why God is Good and Faith isn't Evil''
(2008) 978-0470290279 *''How Do We Know Ourselves?: Curiosities and Marvels of the Human Mind'' (2022) 9780374601959

References

External links

David G. Myers's web siteDefining Wisdom: A Project of The University of Chicago Arete InitiativeA Science of Virtues: A Project of The University of Chicago Arete Initiative
{{DEFAULTSORT:Myers, David G. 1942 births Living people 21st-century American psychologists American Protestants American social psychologists People from Holland, Michigan American textbook writers American male non-fiction writers Fellows of the American Psychological Association Hearing loss 20th-century American psychologists