Isaac Michael "Zick" Rubin (born 1944) 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 ...
, lawyer, and author.
[Sheehy, Noel; Conroy, Wendy A. (1997). ''Biographical dictionary of psychology,'' p. 493. Taylor & Francis, ] He is "widely credited as the author of the first empirical measurement of love,"
[Baxter LA; Akkoor C (2008)]
Aesthetic love and romantic love in close relationships.
In Roberts, Kathleen Glenister; Arnett Ronald C., eds. ''Communication ethics: between cosmopolitanism and provinciality,'' p. 29. Peter Lang, for his work distinguishing feelings of
like
In English, the word ''like'' has a very flexible range of uses, ranging from conventional to non-standard. It can be used as a noun, verb, adverb, adjective, preposition, particle, conjunction, hedge, filler, quotative, and semi-suffix.
U ...
from feelings of
love
Love is a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment (psychology), attachment to a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms, encompassing a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most su ...
via Rubin's Scales of Liking and Loving.
[Associated Press (May 5, 1970)]
Harvard Sociologist Finds Male Love Exceeds Liking.
''New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''[Feshbach, Seymour; Weiner, Bernard; Bohart, Arthur C. eds. (1996). ''Personality.'' D.C. Heath, ][Myers, David G. (1999). ''Social Psychology.'' McGraw-Hill College, ] ''Science Progress'' stated, "The major breakthrough in research on love came from the pioneer
psychometric
Psychometrics is a field of study within psychology concerned with the theory and technique of measurement. Psychometrics generally covers specialized fields within psychology and education devoted to testing, measurement, assessment, and rela ...
work of Zick Rubin."
He has also published on disclosing to
consequential strangers
Consequential strangers are personal connections other than family and close friends. Also known as "peripheral" or "weak" ties, they lie in the broad social territory between strangers and intimates. The term was coined by Karen L. Fingerman and ...
. According to ''The Cambridge Handbook of Personal Relationships,'' Rubin "conducted influential early studies on disclosure reciprocity in naturalistic settings, such as in airport departure lounges and at bus stops."
[Vangelisti, Anita L.; Perlman, Daniel (2006). ''The Cambridge handbook of personal relationships,'' p. 410. Cambridge University Press, ] His work also examined the development of friendship among toddlers.
Life and education
Rubin earned a
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
degree from
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
in 1965 and a Ph.D. from
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 ...
in 1969.
In the 1980s, Rubin entered
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...
, earning his
J.D. degree and being admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1988.
In the 2001 edition of ''The Penguin Dictionary of Psychology'', Rubin was listed as having died in 1997.
[Reber AS, Reber E (2001). ''The Dictionary of Psychology,'' 3rd edition. See Appendix B: Authorities cited p 828. ] In 2011 he wrote a ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''
op-ed
An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page," is a type of written prose commonly found in newspapers, magazines, and online publications. They usually represent a writer's strong and focused opinion on an issue of relevance to a targeted a ...
about his attempts to correct the error after it had been repeated in a
Wikia
Fandom (formerly known as Wikicities and Wikia) is a wiki hosting service that hosts wikis mainly on entertainment topics (i.e., video games, TV series, movies, entertainers, etc.). The Privately held company, privately held for-profit Delaware ...
profile about him.
[Rubin, Zick (March 12, 2011)]
How the Internet Tried to Kill Me.
''New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''
Career
Social psychology
Rubin won the Socio-psychological Prize from the
American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...
in 1969.
History & Archives: AAAS Prize for Behavioral Science Research
/ref> He was director of the Boston Couples Study, described by the ''Encyclopedia of Human Relationships'' as "a pioneering longitudinal study
A longitudinal study (or longitudinal survey, or panel study) is a research design that involves repeated observations of the same variables (e.g., people) over long periods of time (i.e., uses longitudinal data). It is often a type of observationa ...
" that integrated multiple research methods as it followed the development of relationships over time.[Reis, Harry T.; Sprecher, Susan K. (2009). ''Encyclopedia of Human Relationships'', p. 188. SAGE, ] Rubin taught at Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
from 1967 to 1976 and was the Louis and Frances Salvage Professor of Social Psychology at Brandeis University
Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...
from 1977 to 1985 before entering law school.
Rubin defended tax-funded work on love after Senator William Proxmire
Edward William Proxmire (November 11, 1915 – December 15, 2005) was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as a United States Senate, United States Senator from Wisconsin from 1957 ...
criticized the use of 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 ...
funding on studies of love at Harvard, the University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...
, and University of Wisconsin
A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...
.[Haney, Daniel Q. (March 19, 1975). "Love" researcher defends his work. ]Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City.
Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
[Proxmire, William (1980). ''The fleecing of America.'' Houghton Mifflin, ] In 1975, Proxmire had named psychologist Ellen Berscheid of University of Minnesota as recipient of his first Golden Fleece Award
The Golden Fleece Award (1975–1988) was a tongue-in-cheek award given to public officials in the United States for squandering public money. Its name is sardonically taken from the actual Order of the Golden Fleece, a prestigious chivalric aw ...
for her work on love.[Oord, Thomas Jay (2010). ''Defining Love: A Philosophical, Scientific, and Theological Engagement.'' Brazos Press, ] Proxmire called it "a futile and wasteful attempt to explain the impossible."[Associated Press (Mar 19, 1975). Researchers Defend Their Studies Of Love. '']The Telegraph-Herald
The ''Telegraph Herald'', locally referred to as the ''TH'', is a daily newspaper published in Dubuque, Iowa, for the population of Dubuque and surrounding areas in Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin
Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in ...
'' Rubin defended his colleagues, saying Proxmire was "taking advantage of the fact that it is easy to trivialize and sensationalize such matters as these."
Rubin sued ''Boston Magazine
''Boston'' (also called "''Boston'' magazine" or referred to by the nickname "BoMag") is a regional monthly magazine concerning life in the Greater Boston area, which has been in publication since 1962.
History
Metrocorp Publishing, a Philade ...
'' for copyright infringement
Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of Copyright#Scope, works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the c ...
after they copied the questions from his liking and loving scales without permission in a 1977 article.[Isaac Michael Rubin v. Boston Magazine Company and D. Herbert Lipson (see appeal at 645 F.2d 80 (1981).] He won the case in 1981 and prevailed on appeal.[Doherty, William F. (March 28, 1981). Question of Love, Matter of Money. '']Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
''
Law
Rubin was a lawyer at Palmer & Dodge LLP and then at Hill & Barlow before opening The Law Office of Zick Rubin in 2003. He specializes in legal issues related to copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, ...
, trademark
A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a Good (economics and accounting), product or Service (economics), service f ...
, media
Media may refer to:
Communication
* Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data
** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising
** Interactive media, media that is inter ...
, and higher education. In 2020 Rubin joined Archstone Law Group as Of Counsel. On behalf of the daughters of the poet who wrote the lyrics of the nursery school song “Soft Kitty,” he brought a copyright infringement lawsuit against the producers of the popular weather sitcom “The Big Bang Theory,” alleging that they used the song without permission. The case was settled on undisclosed terms.
Rubin had been a member of the Copyright Society of the United States, the Authors Guild,
the Text and Academic Authors Association, and the National Association of College and University Attorneys.
Selected publications
*Rubin Z (1973). ''Liking and loving: An invitation to social psychology.'' Holt, Rinehart and Winston,
*Rubin Z, Peplau LA (1973). Belief in a Just World and Reactions to Another's Lot: A Study of Participants in the National Draft Lottery. ''Journal of Social Issues,'' Volume 29, Issue 4, pages 73–93, Fall 1973
*Rubin Z (1974). ''Doing unto others: joining, molding, conforming, helping, loving.'' Prentice-Hall,
*Rubin Z (1974). Measurement of romantic love. ''International Journal of Group Tensions''
*Rubin Z, Peplau LA (1975). Who believes in a just world? ''Journal of Social Issues,'' Volume 31, Issue 3, pages 65–89, Summer 1975
*Rubin Z (1975). Disclosing Oneself to a Stranger: Reciprocity and Its Limits. ''Journal of Experimental Social Psychology,'' 11: 233-60
*Hill CT, Rubin Z, Peplau LA (1976). Breakups before marriage: The end of 103 affairs. ''Journal of Social Issues'' Volume 32, Issue 1, pages 147–168, Winter 1976
*Rubin Z (1980). ''Children's friendships,'' Harvard University Press,
*Rubin Z, McNeil EB (1983). ''The psychology of being human.'' Harper & Row,
References
External links
The Law Office of Zick Rubin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rubin, Zick
1944 births
Living people
20th-century American Jews
American social psychologists
University of Michigan alumni
Harvard Law School alumni
Yale University alumni
21st-century American Jews