Milton Rokeach
Encyclopedia
Milton Rokeach was a Polish-American social psychologist
. He taught at Michigan State University
, the University of Western Ontario
, Washington State University
, and the University of Southern California
.
, Poland
, Rokeach emigrated to the United States with his parents at the age of seven. After graduation from Brooklyn College
, Rokeach received his Ph.D from University of California, Berkeley
in 1947.
State Hospital - each of whom believed they were Jesus Christ - from 1959-1961. The book he wrote about the experiment, The Three Christs of Ypsilanti
, was subsequently adapted into a screenplay, a stage play, and two operas.
His book The Nature of Human Values (1973), and the Rokeach Value Survey
(see values scales
), which the book served as the test manual for, occupied the final years of his career. In it, he posited that a relatively few "terminal human values" are the internal reference points that all people use to formulate attitudes and opinions, and that by measuring the "relative ranking" of these values one could predict a wide variety of behavior, including political affiliation and religious belief. This theory led to a series of experiments in which changes in values led to measurable changes in opinion for an entire small city in the state of Washington.
Memorial Award of American Psychological Association
in 1984 and the Harold Lasswell Award from the International Society of Political Psychology in 1988.
Social psychology
Social psychology is the scientific study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. By this definition, scientific refers to the empirical method of investigation. The terms thoughts, feelings, and behaviors include all...
. He taught at Michigan State University
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
, the University of Western Ontario
University of Western Ontario
The University of Western Ontario is a public research university located in London, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus covers of land, with the Thames River cutting through the eastern portion of the main campus. Western administers its programs through 12 different faculties and...
, Washington State University
Washington State University
Washington State University is a public research university based in Pullman, Washington, in the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest. Founded in 1890, WSU is the state's original and largest land-grant university...
, and the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
.
Early life
Born in HrubieszówHrubieszów
Hrubieszów is a town in southeastern Poland, with a population of 18,661 . It is the capital of Hrubieszów County. Since 1999 Hrubieszów has been part of Lublin Voivodeship . Earlier, 1975–98, it had been part of Zamość Province...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Rokeach emigrated to the United States with his parents at the age of seven. After graduation from Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York, United States.Established in 1930 by the New York City Board of Higher Education, the College had its beginnings as the Downtown Brooklyn branches of Hunter College and the City College of New...
, Rokeach received his Ph.D from University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
in 1947.
Contributions to psychology
Rokeach conducted a well-known experiment in which he observed the interaction of three mentally ill patients at YpsilantiYpsilanti, Michigan
Ypsilanti is a city in Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 22,362. The city is bounded to the north by the Charter Township of Superior and on the west, south, and east by the Charter Township of Ypsilanti...
State Hospital - each of whom believed they were Jesus Christ - from 1959-1961. The book he wrote about the experiment, The Three Christs of Ypsilanti
The Three Christs of Ypsilanti
The Three Christs of Ypsilanti is a book-length psychiatric case study by Milton Rokeach, concerning his experiment with a group of schizophrenic patients at Ypsilanti State Hospital in Ypsilanti, Michigan....
, was subsequently adapted into a screenplay, a stage play, and two operas.
His book The Nature of Human Values (1973), and the Rokeach Value Survey
Rokeach Value Survey
The Rokeach Value Survey is a classification system of values. Developed by social psychologist Milton Rokeach, the system consists of two sets of values, 18 individual value items in each...
(see values scales
Values scales
Values scales are psychological inventories used to determine the values that people endorse in their lives. They facilitate the understanding of both work and general values that individuals uphold. In addition, they assess the importance of each value in people’s lives and how the individual...
), which the book served as the test manual for, occupied the final years of his career. In it, he posited that a relatively few "terminal human values" are the internal reference points that all people use to formulate attitudes and opinions, and that by measuring the "relative ranking" of these values one could predict a wide variety of behavior, including political affiliation and religious belief. This theory led to a series of experiments in which changes in values led to measurable changes in opinion for an entire small city in the state of Washington.
Awards
Rokeach received the Kurt LewinKurt Lewin
Kurt Zadek Lewin was a German-American psychologist, known as one of the modern pioneers of social, organizational, and applied psychology....
Memorial Award of American Psychological Association
American Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States. It is the world's largest association of psychologists with around 154,000 members including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. The APA...
in 1984 and the Harold Lasswell Award from the International Society of Political Psychology in 1988.