Daryl Bem
Daryl J. Bem, Ph.D. is a social psychologist who formulated the self -- perception theory as it relates to attitude change in attitude development. He has exhibited many research interests in his career but is also notable for theories regarding the development of attitudes, sexual orientation, and research attempting to demonstrate the legitimacy of such parapsychological phenomena as ESP. This paper discusses his early life, educational background, his major academic influences during his training, the political and cultural climate that occurred during his upbringing, and his major academic contributions and published works.
Dr. Bem's Education, Personal Life, and Employment History
Dr. Bem was born on June 10, 1938 in Denver, Colorado (Bem, 2001). Dr. Bem has two siblings: brother and a sister. Dr. Bem's father, Darwin Bem, owned a small manufacturing company named the Colorado Badge and Trophy Company in the city of Denver, Colorado and his mother was a traditional stay-at-home mother. The Bems were a middle-class family and it appears that there were no major unusual events occurring in his upbringing based on the time of his childhood (Bem, 2001). There is a story that when Ben was six years old he was given a magic set as a gift from his aunt and uncle. He had an interest in magic and while in high school he apparently observed the vaudeville magician, Joseph Dunninger, on a television program. Part of Dunninger's magic act was to "read minds" (Bem, 2001). Apparently Dr. Bem's interest in magic and this particular experience led to a lifelong sub-career as a magician and mentalist. Moreover, it also led to a later interest of Bem to produce empirical investigations attempting to confirm the legitimacy of parapsychological phenomena such as ESP.
Education and Zeitgeist
Dr. Bem attended East Denver high school and graduated in 1956 (Bem, 2001). He then attended Reed College in Oregon where he majored in physics and graduated in 1960 with a bachelor's degree in physics (Bem, 2001).
Following his graduation from Reed College Dr. Bem was accepted into the graduate program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in physics; however, he only remained in that program for one year. It was during the 1960s that the Civil Rights movement began to gain momentum and this movement influenced the young Bem. Fascinated by the changing attitudes of the 1960s he decided to switch his field of study to social psychology. He was accepted into the prestigious social psychology program at the University of Michigan and received his Ph.D. In social psychology in 1964 (Bem. 2001).
Dr. Bem, like many young academics, was heavily influenced by the Zeitgeist of the 1960s. During this time the entire country found itself caught in social and cultural revolutions as well as major changes in political climate due to the Vietnam War, changes in music, movements by university students to affect political and social change, etc. Much of his research and his major research interests reflect the values of these changing times. Moreover, Dr. Bem was heavily influenced by the distinguished staff of social psychologists at the University of Michigan in the 1960s that included individuals like Walter E. Kogan and Robert Zajonc. These individuals were extremely interested in studying such things as attitude formation, decision-making, and social influences on decision-making and left a lasting impression on Dr. Bem and his academic focus (Bem, 2001).
Upon completing his Ph.D. Bem became an assistant professor at Carnegie -- Mellon University from 1964 to 1971. He then went to Stanford University and worked as an assistant professor from 1971 to 1978 and from there he moved on and became a professor of psychology at Cornell University from 1978 to 2007 when he retired, but continued his research until 2011. Dr. Bem was also a visiting professor of psychology at Harvard University in 1987 to 1980 (Bem, 2001).
While he was a professor at Carnegie-Mellon University Dr. Bem met psychology student Sandra Ruth Lipsitz, who would later become a well -- known researcher herself and whom he would later marry and have two children with. The interesting thing about this marriage is that Dr. Bem has always admitted to being gay and his wife, a professor of developmental psychology, engaged in a long- term lesbian relationship upon their separation. The Bems have described their marriage and frontal style as being open, liberal, and uninhibited, again indicating the influence of the 1960s on Dr. Bem and his family (Bem, 2001).
Bem's Major Research and Theories
Dr. Bem has produced a number of significant peer-reviewed research articles on theories regarding sexual orientation, attitude formation, parapsychological phenomena, social judgment, self-perception,...
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