John Dollard (29 August 1900 – 8 October 1980) was an American psychologist and social scientist known for his studies on
race relations
Race relations is a sociological concept that emerged in Chicago in connection with the work of sociologist Robert E. Park and the Chicago race riot of 1919. Race relations designates a paradigm or field in sociology and a legal concept in the ...
in
America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and the
frustration-aggression hypothesis he proposed with
Neal E. Miller
Neal Elgar Miller (August 3, 1909 – March 23, 2002) was an American experimental psychologist. Described as an energetic man with a variety of interests, including physics, biology and writing, Miller entered the field of psychology to pursue ...
and others.
Life and education
Dollard was born in
Menasha, Wisconsin
Menasha () is a city in Calumet and Winnebago counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 18,268 at the 2020 census. Of this, 15,144 were in Winnebago County, and 2,209 were in Calumet County. The city is located mostly in Win ...
in 1900. He studied commerce and English at the
University of Wisconsin
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
and received his B.A. in 1922. He then earned his Ph.D in sociology at the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
in 1931. Dollard also studied psychoanalysis at the Berlin Institute from 1931-1932. He later returned to the states and taught anthropology at
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
. He became a research associate at the new
Institute of Human Relations
An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body.
In some countries, institutes can ...
while teaching at Yale, and with
Neal E. Miller
Neal Elgar Miller (August 3, 1909 – March 23, 2002) was an American experimental psychologist. Described as an energetic man with a variety of interests, including physics, biology and writing, Miller entered the field of psychology to pursue ...
, a fellow researcher at the Institute of Human Relations, Dollard served as a consultant to the Morale Services Division of the
U.S. Department of War
The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, a ...
. He continued to teach at Yale though and later became a professor of
psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...
in 1952. Dollard retired from Yale in 1969, becoming professor emeritus, until his death in 1980 in
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...
.
Career
Dollard's personal research was focused on the sociological issues of race relations and social class, as well as exploring biographical analyses, suggesting what should be included in biographical materials to permit sound psychological studies, researching various topics related to sociology and culture, and psychoanalysis. According to his research, much can be predicted without knowing anything about the individual by simply having knowledge of the culture into which the person is born. He realized that sociological variables, such as social class and culture, influence a person's particular learning experiences. Unlike most psychoanalysts at the time, Dollard recognized the importance of considering actual human social conditions rather than just abstract psychological principles constructed in a laboratory setting. These ideas and practices led him to write one of his most influential works, ''
Caste and Class in a Southern Town
Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...
'', the now classic sociological study of race relations in the
Deep South
The Deep South or the Lower South is a cultural and geographic subregion in the Southern United States. The term was first used to describe the states most dependent on plantations and slavery prior to the American Civil War. Following the war ...
.
From 1941 to 1945 he also studied fear and morale in modern warfare, which culminated in several reports, including ''Fear and Courage under Battle Conditions'' (1943) and "Fear in Battle" (''The Infantry Journal'', 1944).
However, Dollard is likely best known within the psychological community as a member of the distinguished group of young researchers (among whom was
Neal E. Miller
Neal Elgar Miller (August 3, 1909 – March 23, 2002) was an American experimental psychologist. Described as an energetic man with a variety of interests, including physics, biology and writing, Miller entered the field of psychology to pursue ...
) at Yale University in the 1930s who, inspired initially by
Clark L. Hull
Clark Leonard Hull (May 24, 1884 – May 10, 1952) was an American psychologist who sought to explain learning and motivation by scientific laws of behavior. Hull is known for his debates with Edward C. Tolman. He is also known for his work in d ...
, sought to combine learning theory and psychoanalysis. The groups' first major publication was ''Frustration and Aggression'', and has become a classic which is still widely cited in introductory texts. It outlined a view, now referred to as the
frustration-aggression hypothesis, which formed the basis for later developments such as
Leonard Berkowitz
Leonard Berkowitz (August 11, 1926 – January 3, 2016) was an American social psychologist best known for his research on altruism and human aggression. He originated the cognitive neoassociation model of aggressive behavior, which was created to ...
's ''Aggression: A Social Psychological Analysis'' (1962) and the animal research on frustration and aggression in the 1960s and 1970s, which caused a controversy between the researchers and animal rights groups. Miller sums up Dollard's contributions to the group as such: "If trying to bring together contributions from sociology, anthropology, psychology, and psychotherapy no longer seems so novel, it is because Dollard and other pioneers had the courage and tenacity to break through traditional barriers".
[Biographical Dictionary of Psychology edited by Noel Sheehy, Antony J. Chapman, Wenday A. Conroy (pg. 149-150).]
Publications
* Dollard, J. ''Criteria for the life history, with analysis of six notable documents''. New Haven : Published for the Institute of Human Relations by Yale University Press, 1935.
* Dollard, John. ''Caste and Class in a Southern Town''. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1937.
* Dollard, John, Leonard W. Doob, Neal E. Miller, Orval H. Mowrer and Robert R. Sears. ''Frustration and Aggression''. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1939.
* Dollard, J. & Davis, A. ''Children of bondage : the personality development of Negro youth in the urban south''. Washington, D.C.: American Council on Education, 1940.
* Dollard, J., & Miller, N. ''Social learning and imitation''. New Haven : Published for the Institute of Human Relations by Yale University Press, 1941.
* Dollard, J. ''Fear in Battle''. Yale University Press, 1943.
* Dollard, J. The acquisition of new social habits. In R. Linton (Ed.), ''The science of man in the world crisis'' (pp. 442–464). New York : Columbia University Press, 1945.
* Dollard, J. ''Anniversary Papers of the Community Service Society: The Family in a Democratic Society''. Columbia University Press, 1949.
* Dollard, John and Neal E. Miller. ''Personality and Psychotherapy: An Analysis in Terms of Learning, Thinking, and Culture''. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1950.
* Dollard, John. ''Steps in Psychotherapy''. New York: Macmillan, 1953.
References
Further reading
* Archer, J. Dollard, John. In N. Sheehy, A. J. Chapman, & W. Conroy (Eds.), ''Biographical dictionary of psychology'' (pg. 149-150). New York, NY: Routledge, 1997.
External links
John Dollard Papers (MS 1758).Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dollard, John
1900 births
1980 deaths
20th-century American psychologists
American social scientists
Yale University faculty
People from Menasha, Wisconsin
University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni