Donald I. Templer was a retired American psychologist best known for ideas on

race and intelligence Discussions of race and intelligence—specifically regarding claims of differences in intelligence along racial lines—have appeared in both popular science and academic research since the modern concept of race was first introduced. With th ...

, and his association with the white nationalist group

American Renaissance The American Renaissance was a period of American architecture and the arts from 1876 to 1917, characterized by renewed national self-confidence and a feeling that the United States was the heir to Greek democracy, Roman law, and Renaissance hu ...

. He was formerly a professor of psychology at

Alliant International University Alliant International University is a Private university, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit university with its main campus in San Diego, five additional campuses in California (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Irv ...

Fresno Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Education and career

Templer received his Ph.D. from the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

in 1967. He was a professor of psychology at

Research

Death Anxiety Scale

Templer developed the Death Anxiety Scale, the best-known scale used to measure

death anxiety Death anxiety is anxiety caused by thoughts of one's own death, and is also known as thanatophobia (fear of death). This anxiety can significantly impact various aspects of a person's life. Death anxiety is different from necrophobia, which r ...

, in 1970.

Race and intelligence

Templer's most recent studies focused on

and he spoke on the subject at white nationalist

conferences. Templer and Hiroko Arikawa argued in a 2006 study that colder climates favor higher IQs because it is more difficult to live in such areas. Templer described "race realists" as modern-day Galileos, and argued that the compensated sterilization of welfare recipients would be cost saving, and prevent "burdens" on society.

Retraction of 2012 article

On 17 June 2020, publisher

Elsevier Elsevier ( ) is a Dutch academic publishing company specializing in scientific, technical, and medical content. Its products include journals such as ''The Lancet'', ''Cell (journal), Cell'', the ScienceDirect collection of electronic journals, ...

announced it was retracting an article that Templer and J. Philippe Rushton had published in 2012 in the Elsevier journal ''

Personality and Individual Differences ''Personality and Individual Differences'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published 16 times per year by Elsevier. It was established in 1980 by Pergamon Press and is the official journal of the International Society for the Study of Individ ...

''. The article claimed that there was scientific evidence that skin color was related to aggression and sexuality in humans.

Penis size

In 2002, he published the book ''Is Size Important?'', which focuses on variations in

human penis size Human penis size varies on a number of measures, including length and circumference when flaccid and erect. Besides the natural variability of human penises in general, there are factors that lead to minor variations in a particular male ...

and preferences for penises of certain sizes. He appeared on

the Howard Stern Show ''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was radio syndication, nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WINS-FM, WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The sho ...

to discuss this subject in 2007, where Stern referred to him as "Dr. Penis".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Templer, Donald I. Alliant International University faculty 20th-century American psychologists American psychology writers American intelligence researchers American white supremacists People involved in race and intelligence controversies Proponents of scientific racism University of Kentucky alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people)