Social Psychologists' Expertise in the Public Interest: Civilian Morale Research During World War II

Abstract

By reviewing the careers of three prominent social psychologists, Floyd Henry Allport, Daniel Katz, and Rensis Likert, this article describes the theoretical and practical psychological expertise that American psychologists developed before, during, and after World War II and describes how this expertise resulted in significant gains for the field of social psychology. Prior to World War II, Allport, Katz, and Likert made pioneering contributions to understanding issues relevant to society, to the science of social psychology, and to methods of attitude measurement and poll design. In response to World War II, each of the three pursued research topics more immediately connected to the war effort. Similar to other prominent social psychologists, Allport, Katz, and Likert were able to parlay their prewar reputations into significant, high-level roles in the service of the World War II effort. In turn, these successes helped to lay the foundation for a postwar boom in social psychology that had implications for training in and research on social psychology. Nonetheless, social psychology's and society's utilization of the knowledge gained during World War II appears to have been less than optimal.

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