Elliot Aronson

Aronson grew up in extreme poverty in Revere, Massachusetts, during the Great Depression. His was the only Jewish family in the neighborhood, and it was not rare for Aronson to be bullied on the way home from Hebrew school by anti-Semitic gangs. He believes that every life's progress is based on a combination of luck, opportunity, talent, and intuition.Chibnall, John T., [https://www.proquest.com/docview/851475808 "Elliot Aronson and the life of becoming."], American Psychological Association, date Although his high school grades were mediocre, his SAT scores were high enough to earn him a work-study scholarship at Brandeis University.

Influenced by his father, he began his college career majoring in economics. However, he promptly changed his major to psychology after accidentally wandering into an Introductory Psychology lecture taught by Abraham Maslow.American Psychologist (November 1999), 54 (11), pg. 873-875 After attending this lecture, he realized that there was an entire science devoted to exploring the kinds of questions that had intrigued him as a child. His undergraduate years at Brandeis brought him closer to a number of respected psychologists, but Maslow was his primary mentor and had the biggest impact on his early academic career.

Aronson earned his bachelor's degree from Brandeis in 1954. He went on to earn a master's degree from Wesleyan University in 1956, where he worked with David McClelland, and a Ph.D. in psychology from Stanford University in 1959, where his doctoral advisor and mentor was the experimental social psychologist Leon Festinger.Aronson, E. (2010). Not by chance alone: My life as a social psychologist. New York: Basic Books. {{ISBN|978-0-465-01833-8}}

Aronson has taught at Harvard University, the University of Minnesota, the University of Texas, and the University of California, Santa Cruz. He also served as distinguished visiting professor at Stanford University.{{citation|first=Joshua Michael |last=Aronson|title=Improving academic achievement: impact of psychological factors on education|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0bEOmHiVzDgC&pg=PR15|access-date=11 July 2010|date=15 April 2002|publisher=Emerald Group Publishing|isbn=978-0-12-064455-1|page=15}} He was included in a list of the 100 most influential psychologists of the 20th century published by the Review of General Psychology.{{cite journal|last=Haggbloom|first=Steven J.|title=The 100 most eminent psychologists of the 20th century|journal=Review of General Psychology|year=2002|volume=6|issue=2|pages=139–152|doi=10.1037/1089-2680.6.2.139|s2cid=145668721|display-authors=etal}} He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and won the William James Award from the Association for Psychological Science for his lifetime achievements.{{cite web|last=McNulty|first=Jennifer|title=UCSC Professor Emeritus Elliot Aronson receives lifetime achievement award from the Association for Psychological Science|url=http://www.ucsc.edu/news_events/press_releases/text.asp?pid=973|publisher=UC Santa Cruz|access-date=7 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613053339/http://www.ucsc.edu/news_events/press_releases/text.asp?pid=973|archive-date=13 June 2010|df=dmy-all}} His honors include distinguished research awards from the American Psychological Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Society of Experimental Social Psychology. He also won the Gordon Allport Prize for his work on reducing prejudice. In 1981 he was one of five academics awarded "Professor of the Year" by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education.{{cite news|title=KU's Bricker recognised for outstanding teaching|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VpkyAAAAIBAJ&pg=4604%2C6439486|access-date=11 July 2010|newspaper=Lawrence Journal-World|date=28 May 1981|page=6}}

Aronson's interests and research have paid particular attention to the theory of cognitive dissonance.Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Evanston, IL: Row, Peterson. Aronson advanced Festinger's theory by showing that it is most powerful when the self-concept is involved; see Tavris, C., & Aronson, E. (2007), Mistakes were made (but not by ME): Why we justify foolish beliefs, bad decisions, and hurtful acts. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Aronson refined the theory, which posits that when attitudes and behaviors are inconsistent (dissonant), psychological discomfort results. This discomfort motivates the person experiencing it to either change the behavior or the attitude so that consonance is restored. In a classic experiment, Aronson demonstrated that people who undergo an embarrassing initiation to gain admission to a group develop more favorable evaluations of the group than people who are admitted after a mild or easy initiation.Aronson, E., & Mills, J. (1959). The effect of severity of initiation on liking for a group. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 59, 177–181. In Aronson's Theories of Cognitive Consistency (1973), he states: "Dissonance theory does not rest upon the assumption that man is a rational animal; rather, it suggests that man is a rationalizing animal – that he attempts to appear rational, both to others and to himself."

{{cite web

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|archive-date= March 5, 2014

|title=Festinger's Cognitive Dissonance Theory and Research Examples|access-date=5 Mar 2014

|date=2012-04-22}} The core statement from this quote is often mis-attributed to Leon Festinger. The earliest known expression of this concept appears in Robert A. Heinlein's 1953 book Assignment in Eternity, which collected Heinlein stories from the 1930s and 1940s: "Man is not a rational animal, he is a rationalizing animal."

File:Elliot Aronson 2001.jpg]]

Aronson led the development of a classroom technique for defusing inter-group tension and promoting self-esteem. It was discovered that it is rare for classrooms of students to cooperate towards a common goal.

In 1971 the newly desegregated schools of Austin, Texas faced a crisis of violence between ethnic groups.{{cite news |last=Gilbert |first=Susan |title=No One Left to Hate: Averting Columbines |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/27/health/27CONV.html |access-date=7 July 2010 |newspaper=New York Times |date=March 27, 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110126034819/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/27/health/27CONV.html |archive-date=January 26, 2011 }}

Aronson, then at the University of Texas, was called in as a consultant by a school administrator who was also a former student.

Aronson noticed that the schools' highly competitive atmosphere was exacerbating the already tense ethnic rivalry.

Together with his graduate students, he developed a model of teaching practice to encourage a culture of shared goals and mutual support.

In the jigsaw classroom approach, pupils are divided into small groups, mixed by race and by ability, to work co-operatively on a task.

The classroom material—for example a biography of a historical figure—is broken into sections, and one member of each group is responsible for reading each section. Members with the same role from each group gather in "expert groups" to discuss their sections. They then return to their own groups and take turns to present what they have learned. They are then assessed individually on all sections of the material.{{citation|first1=Jere |last1=Brophy|title=Motivating Students to Learn|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EepiejSCsqUC&pg=PA203|access-date=11 July 2010|year=2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-4106-1021-8|pages=203–204}}"OVERVIEW." The Jigsaw Classroom. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 June 2016. This division of responsibilities means that students are motivated to listen to each other and each of them experiences a role in which they are valuable to others.{{citation|first1=David |last1=Levinson|first2=Peter W. |last2=Cookson|first3=Alan R. |last3=Sadovnik|title=Education and sociology: an encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yzi-6VOVcUcC&pg=PA117|access-date=11 July 2010|year=2002|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-8153-1615-2|page=117}}

Comparisons with traditional classroom environments showed that the jigsaw classroom has positive effects on academic performance, self-esteem and attitudes towards other ethnic groups.{{citation |last1=Aronson|first1=Elliot|last2=Bridgeman|first2=Diane|title=Jigsaw Groups and the Desegregated Classroom: In Pursuit of Common Goals|journal=Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin|volume=5|issue=4|year=1979|pages=438–446|issn=0146-1672|doi=10.1177/014616727900500405|s2cid=143393196}}

The technique has since been applied in hundreds of schools across North America. From its initial application at third- to fifth-grade school level, it has been expanded to other educational levels. This success encouraged Aronson to apply his research to other policy issues including energy conservation and the treatment of the elderly.

In the aftermath of the Columbine High School massacre, Aronson advocated for jigsaw classrooms as part of an approach to defusing the social divisions underlying school violence.

In 1965, Aronson proposed that interpersonal attraction and liking could be understood in terms of the balance of reward and cost. This implied that contrast—a gain or loss of positive feedback from the other person—has more effect on liking than the absolute level of feedback. An example is how compliments are more meaningful when they come from someone who is usually critical, rather than from a reliable supporter. Another example is that a couple may feel more dedicated to their relationship if they initially disliked each other.{{cite book|last=Reisman|first=John M.|title=Anatomy of friendship|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G63aTaSNeNAC&pg=PA79|access-date=2 January 2011|date=September 1979|publisher=Ardent Media|isbn=978-0-89197-646-2|pages=79–80}}

Aronson published a paper in 1966,Aronson, E., Willerman, B., & Floyd, J. (1966). The effect of a pratfall on increasing interpersonal attractiveness. Psychonomic Science. where he described an experiment testing the effects of a simple blunder on perceived attraction. The so-called pratfall effect is the tendency for attractiveness to increase or decrease after an individual makes a mistake, depending on the individual's perceived competence, or ability to perform well in a general sense.

File:Elliot Aronson and guide dog 2011.jpg Desi-Lu in 2011]]

Elliot is married to Vera Aronson, whom he met while they were both undergraduate research assistants under Abraham Maslow. Together they have had four children: Hal, Neal, Julie and Joshua, who is himself a social psychologist.{{Citation |work=Monitor on Psychology|volume=30|issue=6|publisher=American Psychological Association |first=Zak |last=Stambor|url=http://www.apa.org/monitor/jun06/expectations.aspx |title=Lowered expectations|access-date=11 July 2010|year=2006}} In 2000, Aronson was diagnosed with macular degeneration and, by 2003, had lost all of his central vision. To cope with his blindness, Aronson decided to get a guide dog, and applied at Guide Dogs for the Blind in 2010. In January 2011 he began a three-week training session with his new guide dog, Desilu, nicknamed Desi. He graduated from the program on February 12, 2011. He said, "They worked us 14 hours a day, until we were almost as smart as our dogs."{{Cite web | url=http://news.ucsc.edu/2011/03/aronson-nominations.html | title=Elliot Aronson nominated for book, emeriti awards|website=news.ucsc.edu|first=Guy|last=Lasiner|date=March 30, 2011|access-date=January 31, 2022}}

Aronson has written more than twenty books, including textbooks, popularizations and one book of children's fiction with his granddaughter Ruth Aronson. In 2010, Psychology Press published a book of essays and scholarly articles by his friends, colleagues, and former students celebrating his influence on their work: The Scientist and the Humanist: A Festschrift in Honor of Elliot Aronson.

• Lindzey, G., & Aronson, E. (1968 & 1985). The handbook of social psychology (2nd & 3rd eds.). New York: Random House.
• Stern, P. C., & Aronson, E. (1984). Energy use: The human dimension. New York: W. H. Freeman.
• Pines, A. & Aronson, E. (1988). Career burnout. New York: Free Press.
• Aronson, E., Ellsworth, P., Carlsmith, J. M., & Gonzales, M. (1990). Methods of research in social psychology (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
• Aronson, E., & Pratkanis, A. R. (1993). Social psychology: The most outstanding research (Vol. 1, 2, & 3). London: Elgar Ltd.
• Aronson, E. (2000). Nobody left to hate: Teaching compassion after Columbine. New York: Henry Holt.
• Pratkanis, A. R., & Aronson, E. (2001). Age of propaganda: The everyday use and abuse of persuasion. New York: Henry Holt.
• Tavris, C., & Aronson, E. (2015). Mistakes were made (but not by Me): Why we justify foolish beliefs, bad decisions, and hurtful acts (Rev. ed) New York: Harcourt. {{ISBN|978-0-54-457478-6}}
• Aronson, E., & Patnoe, S. (2011). Cooperation in the Classroom: The Jigsaw Method (3rd ed.). New York: Pinter & Martin Ltd. {{ISBN|1-9051-7722-4}}
• Aronson, E. (2011). The Social Animal (11th ed.). New York: Worth/Freeman. {{ISBN|1-4292-3341-9}}
• Aronson, J., & Aronson, E. (Ed.). (2011). Readings about the social animal (11th ed.). New York: Worth/Freeman. {{ISBN|1-4292-3342-7}}
• Aronson, E., Wilson, T. D., Akert, R. M., & Sommers S. R. (2015). Social psychology (9th ed.). New York: Prentice Hall. {{ISBN|0-1339-3654-6}}

• Aronson, E. (2002). "Drifting my own way: Following my nose and my heart." In R. Sternberg (Ed.) (2003) Psychologists defying the crowd: Stories of those who battled the establishment and won. Washington, DC: APA Books. {{ISBN|978-1-55798-919-2}}
• {{Citation|editor1-first=Gardner |editor1-last=Lindzey|editor2-first=William |editor2-last=McKinley Runyan|title=A History of psychology in autobiography, volume 9|year=2007|publisher=American Psychological Association|isbn=978-1-59147-796-9|chapter=Elliot Aronson|first=Elliot |last=Aronson|pages=3–42}}
• Aronson, E. (2010). Not by chance alone: My life as a social psychologist. New York: Basic Books. {{ISBN|978-0-465-01833-8}}

• Aronson, E., & Aronson, R. (2005). The Adventures of Ruthie and a Little Boy Named Grandpa (a children's book). iUniverse.

• {{section link|Insufficient justification|The forbidden toy experiment}}
• List of social psychologists

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{Cite news|last=Vils|first=Ursula|title= 'Jigsaw Method' Cuts Desegregation Strife|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=August 10, 1978}}
• {{Cite news|last=Gilbert|first=Susan|title= School violence target of method|newspaper=San Diego Union - Tribune|date=April 1, 2001}}
• {{Cite news|last=Carey|first=Benedict|title=Storm and Crisis: Coping; Storm Will Have a Long-Term Emotional Effect on Some, Experts Say |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9506EED71431F937A3575AC0A9639C8B63|access-date=7 July 2010|newspaper=New York Times|date=September 4, 2005}}
• {{Cite news|title=Page May Have Falsely Confessed, Psychologist Says|newspaper=San Jose Mercury News|date=March 31, 1988}}
• {{Cite news|last=Vedantam|first=Shankar|title=Bush: Naturally, Never Wrong|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/08/AR2007070800742.html|access-date=7 July 2010|newspaper=Washington Post|date=July 9, 2007}}
• {{Cite news|last=Foote|first=Carol|title=Motivating People To Save Energy|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0C10F93D5D12718DDDA80A94D0405B8084F1D3|newspaper=New York Times|date=August 21, 1980}}
• {{Cite news|last=Gilbert|first=Susan|title=Jigsaw Classrooms to Avert Future Columbines|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=fiwhAAAAIBAJ&pg=3271%2C5119136|access-date=7 July 2010|newspaper=New Straits Times|date=March 29, 2001}}
• {{Citation|editor1-first=Gardner |editor1-last=Lindzey|editor2-first=William |editor2-last=McKinley Runyan|title=A History of psychology in autobiography, volume 9|year=2007|publisher=American Psychological Association|isbn=978-1-59147-796-9|chapter=Elliot Aronson|first=Elliot |last=Aronson|pages=3–42}}
• {{Cite news|last=Lasnier|first=Guy|title=Elliot Aronson nominated for book, emeriti awards|url=http://news.ucsc.edu/2011/03/aronson-nominations.html|access-date=30 March 2011|newspaper=University of California Santa Cruz|date= March 30, 2011}}

{{refend}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20040402032447/http://www.jigsaw.org/about.htm Aronson's home page]
• [http://aronson.socialpsychology.org/ Profile of Aronson on Social Psychology Network]
• [http://www.jigsaw.org/ The Jigsaw Classroom]: site created by Elliot Aronson and hosted by the Social Psychology Network
• [http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0108/14/nr.00.html Aronson interviewed by CNN's Newsroom] about the Jigsaw Classroom, August 14, 2001 (transcript)
• [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12125926 Why It's Hard to Admit to Being Wrong]: Interview with Aronson on National Public Radio, 20 July 2007 (audio and transcript)
• [http://vimeo.com/5016064 The Scientist and The Humanist]: Elliot Aronson in conversation with Carol Tavris and Joshua Aronson, 2008 (video)

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Category:20th-century American psychologists

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