Otto Nyholm Larsen (January 23, 1922 – May 20, 2007) was an American sociologist at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

specializing in

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 ...

. He served as Chair of the Department of Sociology and as Director of the Institute for Sociological Research.

Life and career

Larsen was born in

Tyler, Minnesota Tyler is a city in Lincoln County, Minnesota, United States. The population in was 1,143 at the 2010 census. History Tyler was platted in 1879. It was named for C. B. Tyler, a Minnesota land agent and newspaper editor. A post office has been in ...

. He received his undergraduate education from

Grand View College Grand View University is a private liberal arts university in Des Moines, Iowa. Founded in 1896 and affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the university enrolls approximately 2,000 students and is accredited by the Highe ...

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

, and the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fal ...

, and

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...

. He earned a Ph.D. from the

, joining the faculty in 1951.The human factor in innovation and productivity: hearings (including the record of a seminar sponsored by the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

on July 28, 1981) before the Subcommittee on Science, Research, and Technology of the

Committee on Science and Technology The Committee on Science, Space, and Technology is a committee of the United States House of Representatives. It has jurisdiction over non-defense federal scientific research and development. More specifically, the committee has complete jurisdic ...

, U.S. House of Representatives, Ninety-seventh Congress, first session, September 9, 10, 11, 15, 16, 17, 1981 Larsen did extensive research into incidents of mass hysteria, like the 1954

Seattle windshield pitting epidemic The Seattle windshield pitting epidemic is a phenomenon which affected Bellingham, Seattle, and other communities of Washington state in April, 1954; it is considered an example of a mass delusion. It was characterized by widespread observation of ...

.Aneshensel CS, Phelan JC (2006). ''Handbook of the sociology of mental health.'' Springer, This led to his appointment by Lyndon B. Johnson as Chair of the President's Commission on Obscenity and Pornography. On May 13, 1970, Larsen became one of the first people who have been pied as a form of political protest.

Thomas Forcade Thomas King Forçade (September 11, 1945 – November 17, 1978), also known as Gary Goodson, was an American underground journalist and cannabis rights activist in the 1970s. For many years he ran the Underground Press Syndicate (later called th ...

hit Larsen with a cottage cheese pie during the commission's public hearings.Staff report (May 13, 1970). Witness Presents Pornography Commissioner With a Pie (in the Face). ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' The Commission ultimately recommended

sex education Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including emotional relations and responsibilities, human sexual anatomy, Human sexual activity, sexual acti ...

and found that

obscenity An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin ''obscēnus'', ''obscaenus'', "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Such loaded language can be use ...

and

pornography Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,

were not important social problems, that there was no evidence that exposure to such material was harmful to individuals, and that current legal and policy initiatives were more likely to create problems than solve them.Lee Rainwater, ''Social problems and public policy: deviance and liberty'', Aldine Transaction, 1974, p.143 Johnson's successor

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

and the Senate rejected the Commission findings.Statement About the Report of the Commission on Obscenity and Pornography
October 24, 1970 Upon becoming editor of the ''Alpha Kappa Deltan'' sociology journal, Larsen renamed it ''

Sociological Inquiry ''Sociological Inquiry'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of Alpha Kappa Delta. The journal explores the human condition through a sociological lens. It was established in 1928 as ''The Quarterl ...

''.William R. Catton Jr. Otto Larsen's Grand View of Social Science Sociological Inquiry Volume 62, Issue 1, pages 1–10, January 1992

Selected publications

* DeFleur ML, Larsen ON (1958).''The flow of information: an experiment in mass communication.'' reprint Transaction Publishers, * Medalia NZ, Larsen ON (1964). Diffusion and belief in a collective delusion: The Seattle windshield pitting epidemic. '' American Sociological Review'', Vol. 23, No. 2 (Apr., 1958), pp. 180–186 * Larsen ON, Hill RJ (1954). Mass media and interpersonal communication in the diffusion of a news event. '' American Sociological Review'' Vol. 19, No. 4 (Aug., 1954), pp. 426–433 * Larsen ON (1964). Social effects of mass communication. In Robert E. Lee Faris (ed.) ''Handbook of modern sociology.'' Rand McNally ASIN B0006D6FNC

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Larsen, Otto N. 1922 births 2007 deaths Grand View University alumni People from Tyler, Minnesota University of Oregon alumni University of Montana alumni University of Denver alumni University of Washington alumni