Elaine Hatfield

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Elaine Hatfield (formerly also known as Elaine Walster [1] ) is an American social psychologist. [2] She has been credited, alongside Ellen S. Berscheid, as the pioneer of the scientific study of love. [3] She is employed as a professor in the psychology department of the University of Hawaii.[ citation needed ]

Contents

Education

Hatfield received her BA in Psychology and English in 1959 from the University of Michigan and her PhD from Stanford University in 1963.[ citation needed ]

Career

Relationship science was Hatfield's first professional research focus, beginning at the foundation of her career in the 1960s with an emphasis on human attraction and the nature of romantic love. [1] [4] In addition to Berscheid, she has conducted this research with a number of colleagues, including Leon Festinger—her dissertation advisor at Stanford University--, Elliot Aronson, William Walster, [5] Russell D. Clark, [6] and Susan Sprecher. [3] The "Passionate Love Scale", developed in 1986 by Hatfield and Sprecher, is one of the most widely used in the field. [7]

Hatfield's research in the area has not been without controversy—in 1975, the $84,000 grant she was awarded by the National Science Foundation became the focus of the first Golden Fleece Award for wasteful government spending by then United States Senator William Proxmire. [8] [9] [10] Due to Proxmire's campaign, the funding was rescinded. [10] [11] Undaunted, Hatfield went on to write or co-write many books and papers based on her research, among them A New Look at Love, which won the American Psychological Foundation's National Media Award, and the often-cited Journal of Psychology and Human Sexuality article "Gender Differences in Receptivity to Sexual Offers" (1989). [6] [11]

In the 1990s, Hatfield and husband, American historian Richard Rapson, [10] began researching emotional contagion: the process by which people's emotions are influenced by the demonstrated emotions of their companions. [12] This resulted in the book, with John Caccioppo, on Emotional Contagion. (Cambridge University Press, 1994). In the 2000s, she presented alongside Katherine Aumer on the psychology of hate. [13]

Hatfield is former chair and professor of psychology at the University of Hawai'i and past president of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality (SSSS). In 2012, the Association for Psychological Science gave Hatfield the William James award for a Lifetime of Scientific Achievement. In recent years, she has received Distinguished Scientist Awards (for a lifetime of scientific achievement) from the Society of Experimental Social Psychology (SESP), from the SSSS, and from the University of Hawai'i, and she has received the Alfred Kinsey Award from the Western Region of SSSS. Two of her books have won the American Psychological Association's National Media Award.

In 2019, She received three more honors: 1) Methodological Innovator Award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology; 2) Wall of Fame Award from the Heritage Foundation; and 3) the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Academy for Intercultural Research.

In 2020, her book on the future of love and sex- What's Next in Love and Sex: Psychological and Cultural Perspectives was published by Oxford University Press.

Personal life

Outside of their research, in 1963, Hatfield and Berscheid, then professors at the University of Minnesota, challenged and overcame the university's prohibition against women on faculty dining in the university's Faculty Club. [14] She has been married to Richard Rapson [10] since 1982.

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Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jealousy</span> Emotion

Jealousy generally refers to the thoughts or feelings of insecurity, fear, and concern over a relative lack of possessions or safety.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romance (love)</span> Type of love that focuses on feelings

Romance or romantic love is a feeling of love for, or a strong attraction towards another person, and the courtship behaviors undertaken by an individual to express those overall feelings and resultant emotions.

Interpersonal attraction, as a part of social psychology, is the study of the attraction between people which leads to the development of platonic or romantic relationships. It is distinct from perceptions such as physical attractiveness, and involves views of what is and what is not considered beautiful or attractive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intimate relationship</span> Physical or emotional intimacy

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Sexual jealousy is a special form of jealousy in sexual relationships, based on suspected or imminent sexual infidelity. The concept is studied in the field of evolutionary psychology.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden Fleece Award</span> Tongue-in-cheek award issued by US Senator William Proxmire

The Golden Fleece Award (1975–1988) was a tongue-in-cheek award given to public officials in the United States for squandering public money. Its name is sardonically taken from the actual Order of the Golden Fleece, a prestigious chivalric award created in the late 15th century. It is a play on the transitive verb fleece, or charging excessively for goods or services.

Ellen S. Berscheid is an American social psychologist who is currently a Regents professor at the University of Minnesota, where she earlier had earned her PhD in 1965. Berscheid conducted research on interpersonal relationships, emotions and moods, and social cognition. Berscheid wrote books, articles and other publications to contribute to the field of Social Psychology. She was involved in controversy surrounding the funding for her research on why people fall in love. In addition to her position at the University of Minnesota as a Psychology and Business professor; she has also held a position at Pillsbury. She has received awards for her contributions to social psychology, including The Presidential Citation and the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the American Psychological Association.

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Richard L. Rapson is professor emeritus of American history at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

Isaac Michael "Zick" Rubin is an American social psychologist, lawyer, and author. He is "widely credited as the author of the first empirical measurement of love," for his work distinguishing feelings of like from feelings of love via Rubin's Scales of Liking and Loving. Science Progress stated, "The major breakthrough in research on love came from the pioneer psychometric work of Zick Rubin."

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Harry Reis is a professor of psychology at the University of Rochester. He has been a leading figure in the field of social psychology, credited with helping to launch the study of relationship science and notable for his contribution to theories of intimacy. His research encompasses emotional regulation, the factors that influence social interaction, and consequences of different socializing patterns for health and psychological well-being.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katherine Aumer</span> American social psychologist

Katherine Vera Aumer is an American social psychologist. Her current research focuses on interpersonal relationships and identity issues concerning both culture and race. Her work has also focused on the psychology of hatred. Formerly an associate professor and chair of psychology at Hawaii Pacific University, she currently serves as an associate professor of psychology at the University of Hawaiʻi – West Oʻahu.

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References

  1. 1 2 Sternberg, Robert J.; Weis, Karin (2006). The New Psychology of Love. Yale University Press. p. 180. ISBN   0-300-11697-7.
  2. ↑ Etcoff, Nancy (2 February 2011). Survival of the Prettiest: The Science of Beauty. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 69. ISBN   978-0-307-77911-3.
  3. 1 2 Reis, Harry T.; Aron, Arthur; Clark, Margaret S.; Finkel, Eli J. (2013). "Ellen Berscheid, Elaine Hatfield, and the Emergence of Relationship Science". Perspectives on Psychological Science. 8 (5): 558–72. doi:10.1177/1745691613497966. PMID   26173214. S2CID   11402943.
  4. ↑ McCormack, Patricia (1978-05-25). "Those popular love notions overhauled". Reading Eagle.
  5. ↑ "Study of Love". Lakeland Ledger. 1978-08-03.
  6. 1 2 Voracek M, Hofhansl A, Fisher ML (August 2005). "Clark and Hatfield's evidence of women's low receptivity to male strangers' sexual offers revisited". Psychological Reports. 97 (1): 11–20. doi:10.2466/pr0.97.1.11-20. PMID   16279298. S2CID   24465677.
  7. ↑ McAnulty, Richard D.; Burnette, M. Michele (2006). Sex and Sexuality: Sexual function and dysfunction. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 103. ISBN   978-0-275-98583-7.
  8. ↑ Aukofer, Frank A. (December 8, 1999). "Proxmire honored for sharp eye on $: Taxpayers' group gives founder of Golden Fleece an award of his own". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel . p. 3A. Archived from the original on August 21, 2018. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
  9. ↑ Severo, Richard (December 16, 2005). "William Proxmire, Maverick Democratic Senator From Wisconsin, Is Dead at 90". The New York Times . Retrieved October 31, 2007.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Elaine Hatfield Collection". The Kinsey Institute. Archived from the original on 20 January 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  11. 1 2 Ogas, Ogi; Gaddam, Sai (5 May 2011). A Billion Wicked Thoughts: What the Internet Tells Us About Sexual Relationships. Penguin Group US. p. 70. ISBN   978-0-525-95209-1.
  12. ↑ Hatfield, Elaine; Rapson, Richard (1998). "Emotional Contagion and the Communication of Emotion". In Mark T. Palmer and George A. Barnett (ed.). Mutual Influence in Interpersonal Communication: Theory and Research in Cognition, Affect, and Behavior. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 73. ISBN   978-1-56750-347-0.
  13. ↑ Herbert, Wray (23 May 2014). "The Anatomy of Everyday Hate". Huffington Post. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  14. ↑ Ogas, Ogi; Gaddam, Sai (5 May 2011). A Billion Wicked Thoughts: What the Internet Tells Us About Sexual Relationships. Penguin Group US. p. 69. ISBN   978-0-525-95209-1.
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