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Muzafer Sherif (born Muzaffer Şerif Başoğlu; July 29, 1906 – October 16, 1988) was a Turkish-
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
social psychologist. He helped develop
social judgment theory Social judgment theory (SJT) is a self-persuasion theory proposed by Carolyn Sherif, Muzafer Sherif, and Carl Hovland, defined by Sherif and Sherif as the perception and evaluation of an idea by comparing it with current attitudes. According to t ...
and
realistic conflict theory Realistic conflict theory (RCT), also known as realistic group conflict theory (RGCT), is a social psychological model of intergroup conflict. The theory explains how intergroup hostility can arise as a result of conflicting goals and competition ...
. Sherif was a founder of modern
social psychology Social psychology is the scientific study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people or by social norms. Social psychologists typically explain human behavior as a result of the r ...
who developed several unique and powerful techniques for understanding social processes, particularly
social norms Social norms are shared standards of acceptable behavior by groups. Social norms can both be informal understandings that govern the behavior of members of a society, as well as be codified into rules and laws. Social normative influences or soci ...
and social conflict. Many of his original contributions to social psychology have been absorbed into the field so fully that his role in the development and discovery has disappeared. Other reformulations of social psychology have taken his contributions for granted, and re-presented his ideas as new.


Life and career


Early life, education and political involvement

Muzafer Sherif was born as Muzaffer Şerif Başoğlu and grew up in a wealthy family that included five children, of whom he was the second born. He attended Elementary School in
Ödemiş Ödemiş is a district of İzmir Province of Turkey, as well as the name of its central town (urban population 75,577 as of 2012), located 113 km southeast of the city of İzmir. About 4 km north of Ödemiş town are the ruins of Hypa ...
for six years and then attended Izmir International College from which he received a Bachelor of Arts in 1926. Sherif then obtained MA degree from the
Istanbul University , image = Istanbul_University_logo.svg , image_size = 200px , latin_name = Universitas Istanbulensis , motto = tr, Tarihten Geleceğe Bilim Köprüsü , mottoeng = Science Bridge from Past to the Future , established = 1453 1846 1933 ...
in 1928, where he also expressed his support for the modernization of Turkey during political debates and gathered interest in goal-oriented behaviour, or hormic psychology as proposed by British psychologist William McDougall. Sherif grew up through the
Italo-Turkish War The Italo-Turkish or Turco-Italian War ( tr, Trablusgarp Savaşı, "Tripolitanian War", it, Guerra di Libia, "War of Libya") was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire from 29 September 1911, to 18 October 1912. As a result o ...
, the
Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...
,
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and the Armenian deportations. Additionally, Izmir underwent occupation by Greek and Turkish soldiers from 1918-1924 in the
Turkish War of Independence The Turkish War of Independence "War of Liberation", also known figuratively as ''İstiklâl Harbi'' "Independence War" or ''Millî Mücadele'' "National Struggle" (19 May 1919 – 24 July 1923) was a series of military campaigns waged by th ...
while he attended the College. Sherif went to America during the peak of the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, earning an MA from
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
where his teachers were
Gordon Allport Gordon Willard Allport (November 11, 1897 – October 9, 1967) was an American psychologist. Allport was one of the first psychologists to focus on the study of the personality, and is often referred to as one of the founding figures of personal ...
and Caroll Pratt. He visited
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
in 1932 during the rise of the
Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...
to attend Wolfgang Köhler's lectures on
Gestalt Psychology Gestalt-psychology, gestaltism, or configurationism is a school of psychology that emerged in the early twentieth century in Austria and Germany as a theory of perception that was a rejection of basic principles of Wilhelm Wundt's and Edward T ...
, whereafter Sherif planned to use Gestalt principles for a new social perception theory. He returned to the U.S in 1933 and re-enrolled at Harvard for his Doctoral studies, but later switched to
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, where he earned a Ph.D. in 1935 under
Gardner Murphy Gardner Murphy (July 8, 1895 – March 18, 1979) was an American psychologist who specialized in social and personality psychology and parapsychology.Martin Seymour-Smith, Andrew C. Kimmens. (1996). ''World Authors, 1900-1950, Volume 3''. H.W. Wi ...
. Sherif gained a position at
Ankara University Ankara University ( tr, Ankara Üniversitesi) is a public university in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the formation of the republic in 1923. The university has 40 vocat ...
upon his return to Turkey and developed ties with the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP). He criticized members of the bureaucracy and Nazi-supporters in his works as
fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...
became more prevalent. He was briefly detained along with other members of the TKP in 1944 following political conflicts at Ankara University, where he sided with Communists. Sherif went back to the U.S permanently in 1945.


Early career and marriage

In 1945, Sherif married
Carolyn Wood Carolyn Wood, United States Army captain, is a military intelligence officer who served in both Afghanistan and Iraq. She was implicated by the Fay Report to have "failed" in several aspects of her command regarding her oversight of interrogator ...
, and they collaborated productively on subsequent projects for many years, on scholarly books (e.g., Sherif & Sherif, 1953) and a textbook (Sherif & Sherif, 1969). They had three daughters: Ann, Sue and Joan. In 1947, he published his first book, ''The Psychology of Ego Involvements'', co-written with
Hadley Cantril Albert Hadley Cantril, Jr. (16 June 1906 – 28 May 1969) was an American psychologist from the Princeton University, who expanded the scope of the field. Cantril made "major contributions in psychology of propaganda; public opinion research; appl ...
. In it, he compared Soviet and American societies, by showing different values and beliefs of the nations which flowed from different social and cultural contexts. With it, he posited that individualistic, competitive and conflictual society is avoidable.


Life in the US

Sherif fled back to America shortly after his detainment in Turkey in 1945 due to fear of a harsher and longer punishment for his association with the Communist Party.Kayaoğlu, A., Batur, S., & Aslitürk, E. (2014). The unknown muzafer sherif. ''The Psychologist, 27''(11), 830-833. Retrieved from The social academic environment during Sherif's first years in America supported Sherif's Marxist views and inspired ''The Psychology of Ego Involvements'' (1947), published from
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
.Russell, G. (2016). A variation on forced migration: Wilhelm peters (prussia via britain to turkey) and muzafer sherif (turkey to the united states). ''Journal of the History of the Neurosciences, 25''(3), 320-347. doi:10.1080/0964704X.2016.1175 By 1951 Sherif's relationship with Turkey had been completely damaged. He’d lost all contact with close friends and colleagues during Turkey’s anti-Communist shutdown and his relationships with family dwindled. Despite Sherif's influence in the Social Psychology academic scene, he remained stateless.Harvey, O. J. (1989). Muzafer sherif (1906–1988). ''American Psychologist, 44''(10), 1325-1326. doi:10.1037/h0091637 Sherif no longer held rights in Turkey and was not granted US citizenship. Sherif was listed on the
Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
's Communist sympathizer list and was interrogated by the FBI, which caused him to be more discreet about his socio-political views. Sherif was officially fired as a Professor at Ankara University, and was legally liable for salary debt to the Turkish government during his residence in the U.S. Sherif's marriage to his American wife, Carolyn Wood, led to his dismissal because it violated policies banning the marriage of Turks to foreigners. Although mostly recognized as a psychologist, Sherif was the first to obtain the Cooley-Mead Award for Contributions to Social Psychology from the
American Sociological Association The American Sociological Association (ASA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the discipline and profession of sociology. Founded in December 1905 as the American Sociological Society at Johns Hopkins University by a group of fif ...
. His academic appointments included
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 ...
, the
University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...
, and
Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...
.


Mental illness and late life

Sherif had difficulties with mental illness as he was diagnosed with manic depression and had attempted suicide. Sherif's mental health worsened after his wife’s death in 1982. According to his daughter, Sue, with whom Sherif was living at that time, Sherif was in good spirits when he was stricken with a fatal heart attack. He died on October 16, 1988, in
Fairbanks, Alaska Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the po ...
, at the age of 82.


Contributions to psychology

Sherif made contributions to social psychological theory, field and laboratory methodology, and to the application of research to social issues. He wrote more than 60 articles and 24 books. The majority of his research was done with his wife, Carolyn Wood Sherif.


Autokinetic effect experiments

Sherif's dissertation was titled "Some Social Factors In Perception", and the ideas and research were the basis for his first classic book, ''The Psychology of Social Norms''. The topic of the dissertation was social influence in perception, and the experiments have come to be known as the "
autokinetic effect The autokinetic effect (also referred to as autokinesis and the autokinetic illusion) is a phenomenon of visual perception in which a stationary, small point of light in an otherwise dark or featureless environment appears to move. It was first re ...
" experiments. Sherif's experimental study of autokinetic movement demonstrated how mental evaluation norms were created by human beings. In an otherwise totally dark room, a small dot of light is shown on a wall, and after a few moments, the dot appears to move. This effect is entirely inside the head, and results from the complete lack of "frame of reference" for the movement. Three participants enter the dark room, and watch the light. It appears to move, and the participants are asked to estimate how far the dot of light moves. These estimates are made out loud, and with repeated trials, each group of three converges on an estimate. Some groups converged on a high estimate, some low, and some in-between. The critical finding is that groups found their own level, their own "social norm" of perception. This occurred naturally, without discussion or prompting. When invited back individually a week later and tested alone in the dark room, participants replicated their original groups' estimates. This suggests that the influence of the group was informational rather than coercive; because they continued to perceive individually what they had as members of a group, Sherif concluded that they had internalized their original group's way of seeing the world. Because the phenomenon of the autokinetic effect is entirely a product of a person's own perceptual system, this study is evidence of how the social world pierces the person's skin, and affects the way they understand their own physical and psychological sensations.


Realistic conflict theory and the Robbers Cave experiment

In 1961, Sherif and Carolyn Wood Sherif developed
realistic conflict theory Realistic conflict theory (RCT), also known as realistic group conflict theory (RGCT), is a social psychological model of intergroup conflict. The theory explains how intergroup hostility can arise as a result of conflicting goals and competition ...
, which has been described as "account ngfor inter group conflict, negative prejudices, and stereotypes as a result of actual competition between groups for desired resources." This theory was based in part on the 1954 Robber's Cave experiment. The 1954 experiment, and an abandoned 1953 experiment have come under recent scrutiny, with particular interest in the manipulation and provocation of the child participants by the scientists, and possible
confirmation bias Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's prior beliefs or values. People display this bias when they select information that supports their views, ignoring ...
by Sherif. In the 1954 experiment, "22 white, fifth grade, 11 year old boys with average-to-good school performance and above average intelligence with a protestant, two parent background were sent to a special remote summer camp in Oklahoma, Robbers Cave State Park." The failed 1953 experiment took place in Middle Grove, New York with the same criteria in place for choosing participants. The participants were carefully screened to be psychologically normal, and they did not know each other. Sending them to such a remote location was done to reduce the influence of external factors and better allow “the true nature of conflict and prejudice” to be studied. Researchers, who doubled as counsellors at this summer camp, divided the participants into two different groups, and each group were assigned cabins far from the other. During the first phase, groups did not know the existence of the others. "The boys developed an attachment to their groups throughout the first week of the camp by doing various activities together: hiking, swimming, etc. The boys chose names for their groups, The Eagles and The Rattlers, and stenciled them onto shirts and flags". In this "ingroup formation" phase, members of the groups got to know each other, social norms developed and leadership and structure emerged. Then the second, group conflict or "friction" phase began, in which the groups came into contact with each other. Researchers set up a four-day competitions between those groups with promised prizes to the winners. Prejudice became apparent between the two groups. The prejudice was initially only verbally expressed, such as through taunting or name calling, but as the competition progressed, the prejudice began being expressed more directly, such as with one group burning the other's flag or ransacking their cabin. The groups became too aggressive with each other to control; the researchers had to separate them physically. Researchers then gave all boys a two-day cooling-off period, and asked them to list characteristics of the two groups. The boys tended to characterize their own group highly favourably and the other group very negatively. The researchers then attempted to reduce the prejudice between the groups, and found that simply increasing their contact with each other made matters worse. In contrast, "Forcing the groups to work together to reach superordinate goals, or common goals, eased the prejudice and tension among the groups". Thus, in this "integration" or conflict resolution phase, it was shown that superordinate goals reduce conflict significantly more effectively than communication or contact did.


Crisis in social psychology

In 1977, while at
Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...
Sherif published a paper identifying problem areas in Social Psychology as well as solutions towards them. Publication Quality vs Volume Sherif begins by describing that
social psychology Social psychology is the scientific study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people or by social norms. Social psychologists typically explain human behavior as a result of the r ...
(at the time of publication) was undergoing an increase in the amount of research taking place, and publications printed. To state his position he claims that the ratio of
chaff Chaff (; ) is the dry, scaly protective casing of the seeds of cereal grains or similar fine, dry, scaly plant material (such as scaly parts of flowers or finely chopped straw). Chaff is indigestible by humans, but livestock can eat it. In agri ...
(dry, unusable, straw material used to symbolize meaningless research) to
wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
(meaningful and useful research) is off. He believes this is recognized by other social psychologists high in the field such as Harry Triandis, and acknowledges that some may disagree with his opinion. Thriving Research: Small Group Research and Attitude Change Research Sherif references Paul Hare and Fred Strodtbeck’s bibliographic compilation of all small group research studies from the July 1954 issue of
Sociometry Sociometry is a quantitative method for measuring social relationships. It was developed by psychotherapist Jacob L. Moreno and Helen Hall Jennings in their studies of the relationship between social structures and psychological well-being, and ...
in which 584 citations were listed. This is compared with the March 1972 issue which listed 2021 items. Despite this vast increase, Sherif believes that the studies don’t build off of each other so it is hard to argue from common ground when variables, tasks, and measures are not consistent. He also mentions how social psychology has become more individualistic, focusing on internal states like “dissonance, attitudes, ndattributions”, rather than properties of a group. Sherif blames
reductionism Reductionism is any of several related philosophical ideas regarding the associations between phenomena which can be described in terms of other simpler or more fundamental phenomena. It is also described as an intellectual and philosophical pos ...
, where the phenomena of groups was reduced to interpersonal reaction and ahistoricalism which removed situational factors from consideration. To remedy this he cites Albert Pepitone’s stance that social psychology should focus on research normative in substance (address sociocultural perspectives) and comparative methods. Sherif promotes the idea of attitude and attitude change due to its importance in a quickly changing world. He emphasizes that real world contexts are important, even if regarded as “messy” compared to controlled lab experiments. Increasing Pressure of the Crisis Sherif believes this “publish or perish” culture perpetuates a large output of studies that aren’t necessarily high quality, as researchers are forced to publish papers for their careers, rather than for good science. This leads to a loss of direction for the field as rather than working together on a shared paradigm, researchers are in “self-contained castles” within psychology, but also across disciplines in the social sciences. Clyde Hendrick, asked his colleagues about the “crisis” in the social psychology field and had researchers provide arguments on the following topics: - Scientific vs Historical - Environmental vs Social Psychologies - Field vs Experimental research - Grand theory vs Smaller operational theories vs belief that the field is doing well Following Psychologists participated: Y. Epstein, D. Stokols, H. Pronshansky, I. Altman, M. Mania, K. Gergen, B. Schlenker, A. Greenwald, C. Hendrick, W. Thorngate, R. Harris, P. Secord, M. B. Smith, D. Forsyth, S. Baumgardner, B. Earn, and R. Kroger (Fall, 1976) Sherif mentions that the crisis reproduces itself such that researchers who are in their “self-contained castles” write Social Psychology textbooks, but exclude positions which disagree with their own rather than educate students of a shared paradigm (such paradigms don’t exist, Sherif argues). This is likely as Akan Elm’s states that Social Psychology is still in its “pre-paradigmatic stage of development” and any sort of yield should be celebrated. To this Sherif asks why the field isn’t closer in the 70s than in the 50s, despite roughly 3000 publications being produced since the 50s. Sherif endorses the communication across discipline where it isn’t scientific vs historical to understand a problem, but scientific AND historical. This will help to create commonly shared paradigms, to remove those from their “castles” and disband “disorderly faction-infested tribes” for the greater good of science. Breaking Through the Crisis Sherif explains that some theory model-builders become fixated and create models of small trivial problems, and to break through the crisis is to ask some “unthinkable” questions. What is the nature of a social system in terms of its structure, and function. Sherif claims that psychologists may avoid this, as this is a social rather than psychological question. But ignoring the social aspects of a system is like avoiding the physics of light while studying vision. If Psychology wants to join the ranks of physical sciences, it has to be acknowledged that they asked their “unthinkable” questions during their establishment. They tested their phenomena through simulation models and studies, by viewing physical phenomena in the real world, psychologists need to do the same according to Sherif rather than standing at a far distance. The importance of cross-cultural comparisons is also mentioned by Sherif to insure the validity of methods.


Contributions to sociology

The social judgement theory examines how the assessment and perception of one's ideas are consistent with current attitudes. As new ideas are present, it is assessed by contrasting with one's current beliefs. Muzafer Sherif examined how one has their own latitudes of perception of their ideas and that may be opposing to others' point of view. As a result, he illustrated three forms of latitude which are the latitude of acceptance, rejection and non-commitment. The latitude of acceptance explores the variety of ideas that individuals perceive as considerable and acceptable. The latitude of rejection explores the variety of ideas that an individual perceives to be disagreeable and not deemed considerable. The latitude of noncommitment explores the ideas that are neither considerable or disagreeable. Furthermore, ego involvement is significant in the theory of social judgement as individuals who do not provide an importance to an issue, determine that they consist of broad latitude of noncommitment. As a result, the latitude of rejection of ideas and opposing ideas result in involvement of high ego. Moreover, Sherif explored contrast and assimilation in people's latitudes. Contrast latitude explains how individuals perceive perspectives and beliefs within the latitude of rejection than it actually should be considered and assimilation explains how individuals perceive perspectives and beliefs within their latitude of acceptance than it actually should be. The boomerang effect explored how one's beliefs and attitudes change directions in opposing way to what the message is conveying. Therefore, people are distant from the message of the idea instead of being conveyed to the message.


Books and editorial work

During his career, Sherif authored and coauthored 24 books and over 60 journal articles and chapters which are still influential in the field of psychology.


1937-1944

He established a small laboratory at
Ankara University Ankara University ( tr, Ankara Üniversitesi) is a public university in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the formation of the republic in 1923. The university has 40 vocat ...
. The laboratory was on the social judgment from where he, along with his students translated many works in psychology into the Turkish language. The translation included but was not limited to 1937 Stanford-Binet, chapters from E. G. Boring's ''History of Experimental Psychology'' as well as Robert S. Woodworth's ''Contemporary Schools of Psychology.''


1945-1947

Upon returning to the United States in January 1945, he joined
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
as a Fellow of the U.S. State Department. Here he collaborated with
Hadley Cantril Albert Hadley Cantril, Jr. (16 June 1906 – 28 May 1969) was an American psychologist from the Princeton University, who expanded the scope of the field. Cantril made "major contributions in psychology of propaganda; public opinion research; appl ...
on ''The'' ''Psychology of Ego-Involvements,'' which was later published in 1947.


1947-1949

Sherif was a Rockefeller Research Fellow 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 ...
from 1947 to 1949. His long and prolific collaboration with
Carl Hovland Carl Iver Hovland (June 12, 1912 – April 16, 1961) was a psychologist working primarily at Yale University and for the US Army during World War II who studied attitude change and persuasion. He first reported the sleeper effect after studying th ...
began from here, which led to many influential papers on the anchoring effects of attitudes as well as the book, ''Social Judgement: Assimilation and Contrast Effects in Communication and Attitude Change'' which was published in 1961.


1949-1966

He moved to Oklahoma in 1949, where he worked as a professor, research professor, and director of the Institute of Group Relations, which he founded in 1952. This was the peak of his scholarly activity that resulted in 12 books and 43 research articles and chapters on various topics like attitudes, properties of natural and experimentally created groups on perception, anchoring effects of psychophysical scales, judgment, and self-functioning, etc. Sherif organized different seminars at Oklahoma and later wrote five books based on the papers delivered at those seminars. Some of the well-known volumes included ''Group in Harmony and Tension'' (with his wife
Carolyn Sherif Carolyn Wood Sherif (1922–1982) was an American social psychologist who helped to develop social judgment theory and contributed pioneering research in the areas of the self-system, group conflict, cooperation, and gender identity. She also a ...
), ''Social Judgment'' (with
Carl Hovland Carl Iver Hovland (June 12, 1912 – April 16, 1961) was a psychologist working primarily at Yale University and for the US Army during World War II who studied attitude change and persuasion. He first reported the sleeper effect after studying th ...
), ''Reference Groups: An Exploration Into Conformity and Deviation of Adolescents'' (with
Carolyn Sherif Carolyn Wood Sherif (1922–1982) was an American social psychologist who helped to develop social judgment theory and contributed pioneering research in the areas of the self-system, group conflict, cooperation, and gender identity. She also a ...
), ''Attitude and Attitude Change: The Social Judgment-Involvement Approach'' (with
Carolyn Sherif Carolyn Wood Sherif (1922–1982) was an American social psychologist who helped to develop social judgment theory and contributed pioneering research in the areas of the self-system, group conflict, cooperation, and gender identity. She also a ...
and R. Nebergall), ''In Common Predicament: Social Psychology of Inter-group Conflict and Cooperation, and a major revision of a textbook, An Outline of Social Psychology'' (with
Carolyn Sherif Carolyn Wood Sherif (1922–1982) was an American social psychologist who helped to develop social judgment theory and contributed pioneering research in the areas of the self-system, group conflict, cooperation, and gender identity. She also a ...
). Although he wrote many texts and research in psychology, his best-known work during his 16 years stay at Oklahoma is the ''Inter-group Conflict and Cooperation: The Robber's Cave Experiment'' (with O. J. Harvey, B. J. White, W. R. Hood, and C. W. Sherif). This was initially distributed as a technical report in 1954 but was reprinted without the copyrights of the University Oklahoma Bookstore in 1961. In 1988, it was published by Wesleyan University Press for the first time. In 1966 he and his wife moved to
Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...
, where she became a member of the Psychology Department and he became a Sociology Professor. During this time, he authored, co-authored and co-edited several journal articles and five books with his wife, Carolyn. These five books were: ''Group Conflict and Cooperation; Attitude, Ego-Involvement and Change;'' ''Social Interaction, Process, and Products'': ''Selected Essays of Muzafer Sherif''; and ''Social Psychology'', a revision of the 1966 edition of that textbook.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherif, Muzafer 1906 births People from Ödemiş People from Aidin vilayet Social psychologists Turkish psychologists Gazi Eğitim Enstitüsü faculty Turkish emigrants to the United States Columbia University alumni Harvard University alumni Istanbul University alumni 1988 deaths 20th-century psychologists