John Thibaut
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John Walter Thibaut (1917–1986) was a
social psychologist 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 of ...
, one of the last graduate students of
Kurt Lewin Kurt Lewin ( ; ; 9 September 1890 – 12 February 1947) was a German-American psychologist, known as one of the modern pioneers of social psychology, social, industrial and organizational psychology, organizational, and applied psychology in the ...
. He spent a number of years as a professor at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...
, and was the first editor of the ''
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology The ''Journal of Experimental Social Psychology'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering social psychology. It is published by Elsevier on behalf of the Society of Experimental Social Psychology (SESP). According to the ''Journal Citation Re ...
''.


Life and work

The research group that he headed at UNC was regularly attended by Harry Upshaw, Jack Brehm, Kurt Back, and
Edward E. Jones :For the Louisiana civil rights pioneer, see ''E. Edward Jones''. Edward Ellsworth "Ned" Jones (August 11, 1926 – July 30, 1993) was an influential American social psychology, social psychologist, he is known as father of Ingratiation due to ...
. He is best known for "A Social Psychology of Groups", co-authored by his long-time collaborator
Harold Kelley Harold Kelley (February 16, 1921 – January 29, 2003) was an American social psychologist and professor of psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles. His major contributions have been the development of interdependence theory ...
. The examination of social exchange led Thibaut and Kelley to develop
Interdependence Theory Interdependence theory is a social exchange theory developed in social psychology that examines how interpersonal relationships are defined through interpersonal interdependence, which is "the process by which interacting people influence one ano ...
, a process which was facilitated by Thibaut spending a year at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences where he had significant interaction with
Kenneth Arrow Kenneth Joseph Arrow (August 23, 1921 – February 21, 2017) was an American economist, mathematician and political theorist. He received the John Bates Clark Medal in 1957, and the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1972, along with ...
. The early variations of
Interdependence Theory Interdependence theory is a social exchange theory developed in social psychology that examines how interpersonal relationships are defined through interpersonal interdependence, which is "the process by which interacting people influence one ano ...
Thibaut, J.W., & Kelley, H.H., (1959). The social psychology of groups. New York: Wiley.; Thibaut, J. W., Kelley, H. H. (1977). Interpersonal relations : a theory of interdependence. United Kingdom: Wiley. stem from
Alvin Ward Gouldner Alvin Ward Gouldner (July 29, 1920 – December 15, 1980) was an American Sociology, sociologist, lecturer and radical activist. Early life Gouldner was born in New York City. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration, B.B.A. degree fro ...
's (1960) norm of reciprocity, which argues that people ought to return benefits given to them in a relationship. Peter M. Blau built on the work done by
George C. Homans George Caspar Homans (August 11, 1910 – May 29, 1989) was an American sociologist, founder of behavioral sociology, the 54th president of the American Sociological Association, and one of the architects of social exchange theory. Homans is bes ...
in ''Exchange and Power in Social Life'' (1964). Later modifications to this theory focus attention on relational development and maintenance rules (see Murstein et al.). Thibaut's later research was in the area of procedural justice, where he co-authored a book with legal expert Laurens Walker.


Work

* Back, K., Festinger, L., Hymovitch, B., Kelley, H., Schachter, S., & Thibaut, J. (1950). The methodology of studying rumor transmission. Human Relations, 3(3), 307–312. * Festinger, L., & Thibaut, J. (1951). Interpersonal communication in small groups. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 46(1), 92–99.


References


External links

* American social psychologists 1917 births 1986 deaths 20th-century American economists 20th-century American psychologists Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni APA Distinguished Scientific Award for an Early Career Contribution to Psychology recipients {{US-psychologist-stub