Lee J. Jussim (born December 2, 1955) is an American

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 ...

. He leads the Social Perception Laboratory at

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

. His research includes studying stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination, and political radicalization.

Early life and education

When Jussim was five years old, his family moved into a

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

-area

public housing Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...

; his family lived there until he was 12. When he was 13, his family moved to Levittown, Long Island, and his mother died of cancer shortly after. Jussim dropped out of college shortly before meeting his future wife, Lisa Baum, in 1975. They have three children together. Jussim enrolled at the

University of Massachusetts Boston The University of Massachusetts Boston (stylized as UMass Boston) is a Public university, public US-based research university. It is the only public research university in Boston and the third-largest campus in the five-campus University of Ma ...

in 1979, where he majored in psychology. He completed his doctoral degree at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

under the supervision of professor Lerita Coleman. He graduated with a doctorate in social psychology in 1987 and entered a teaching position at

that same year.

Work

Jussim runs the Social Perception Lab at Rutgers University, Livingston Campus. The lab studies how people perceive, think about, and judge others. Jussim has published work linking

diversity training Diversity training is a type of corporate training designed to facilitate positive intergroup interaction, reduce prejudice and discrimination, and teach different individuals how to work together effectively. Diversity training is often aimed ...

and increased

perception Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous syste ...

microaggressions Microaggression is a term used for commonplace verbal, behavioral or environmental slights, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative attitudes toward members of marginalized groups. The term was coine ...

. He has studied the effects of

stereotype In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalization, generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can ...

accuracy, and separate from the question of whether sterotypes are often the result of irrational psychological biases, Jussim found that in some cases stereotypes are accurate. In 2022, Jussim wrote that “most of the most dramatic claims about IAT">Implicit-association_test.html" ;"title="he Implicit-association test">IAT(implicit-association test) have been debunked or, at least, shown to be dubious and scientifically controversial.” In 2012 Jussim authored "''Social Perception and Social Reality: Why Accuracy Dominates Bias and Self-Fulfilling Prophecy'' and in 2022 was an editor for ''Research Integrity: Best Practices for the Social and Behavioral Sciences"''. He is a founding member of the Academic Freedom Alliance">Academic Freedom Alliance (AFA).

References

External links

''Rabble Rouser''
Jussim's blog * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jussim, Lee 1955 births Living people American social psychologists University of Massachusetts Boston alumni University of Michigan alumni Rutgers University faculty Health professionals from Brooklyn People from Levittown, New York