Collective action refers to action taken together by a group of people whose goal is to enhance their condition and achieve a common objective. It is a term that has formulations and theories in many areas of the social sciences including psychology, sociology, anthropology, political science and economics.
Clark Richard McCauley is an American social psychologist who is Research Professor of Psychology and co-director of the Solomon Asch Center for Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict at Bryn Mawr College.
Horace Romano "Rom" Harré was a New Zealand-British philosopher and psychologist.
Social identity is the portion of an individual's self-concept derived from perceived membership in a relevant social group.
Michael Lamport Commons is a theoretical behavioral scientist and a complex systems scientist. He developed the model of hierarchical complexity.
The Institute for International and Cross-Cultural Psychology (IICCP) at St. Francis College, New York City was founded in 1998. During its 21 years of existence it has become known for the advancement of cross-cultural psychology and international psychology. Supported by an International Advisory Board of psychologists from six countries, members of the institute have engaged in a series of research projects, edited books on a broad variety of topics in international psychology, sponsored numerous conferences, symposia and colloquia, given lectures at many conferences and institutions around the world, and introduced innovative curriculum development.
Self-categorization theory is a theory in social psychology that describes the circumstances under which a person will perceive collections of people as a group, as well as the consequences of perceiving people in group terms. Although the theory is often introduced as an explanation of psychological group formation, it is more accurately thought of as general analysis of the functioning of categorization processes in social perception and interaction that speaks to issues of individual identity as much as group phenomena. It was developed by John Turner and colleagues, and along with social identity theory it is a constituent part of the social identity approach. It was in part developed to address questions that arose in response to social identity theory about the mechanistic underpinnings of social identification.
James S. Robbins is an American commentary writer for USA Today and Senior Fellow for National Security Affairs on the American Foreign Policy Council. He is the former Senior Editorial Writer for Foreign Affairs at the Washington Times, an author, political commentator and professor, with a focus on national security and foreign and military affairs. He also served as special assistant in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
Hall Gardner is a professor of International Politics at the American University of Paris. He received his BA from Colgate University and his MA and PhD from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at the Johns Hopkins University. He primarily study the origins of war, focusing on its sources and impacts, both local and global and the ways in which such conflicts can be resolved. As a geo-strategist, his comparative historical approach combines theory and contemporary international affairs in dealing with topics such as NATO and the European Union, post-Soviet Union Russia and its effects on China and Eurasia, and the international consequences of the “war on terrorism.”
Maxwell "Max" Taylor is a criminal and legal psychologist. His early work specialised in the study of terrorism but he also became involved in the study of sex offenders, and in the development of capacity building activities for disadvantaged children in conflict zones, returning later to the study of terrorism.
Daniel Bar-Tal is an Israeli academic, author and professor of social-political psychology from the Department of Education at Tel Aviv University. He is also the head of the Walter-Lebach Institute for Jewish-Arab Coexistence. His research deals with the study of conflicts and their resolution, especially in the Israeli-Arab context.
Luciano L'Abate was an Italian psychologist who worked in the United States. He was the father of relational theory and author, co-author, editor or co-editor of more than 55 books in the field of American psychology.
Melanie Killen is an American developmental psychologist and Professor of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, and Professor of Psychology (Affiliate) at the University of Maryland, and Honorary Professor of Psychology at the University of Kent, Canterbury, UK. She is supported by funding from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), and the National Science Foundation (NSF) for her research. In 2008, she was awarded Distinguished Scholar-Teacher by the Provost's office at the University of Maryland. She is the Director of the Social and Moral Development Lab at the University of Maryland.
Arie W. Kruglanski is a social psychologist known for his work on goal systems, regulatory mode, and cognitive closure. He is currently a distinguished professor of psychology at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Violent extremism is a form of extremism that condones and enacts violence with ideological or deliberate intent, such as religious or political violence. Violent extremist views often conflate with religious and political violence, and can manifest in connection with a range of issues, including politics, religion, and gender relations.
Peace psychology is a subfield of psychology and peace research that deals with the psychological aspects of peace, conflict, violence, and war. Peace psychology can be characterized by four interconnected pillars: (1) research, (2) education, (3) practice, and (4) advocacy. The first pillar, research, is documented most extensively in this article.
The staircase model is a psychological explanation as to why, out of large numbers of disgruntled people in society, only a very small minority end up committing acts of terrorism. It was proposed in 2005 by Fathali M. Moghaddam in his paper "The Staircase to Terrorism". The model involves a metaphorical staircase, where each step is influenced by a specific psychological process. It is proposed that the higher an individual moves up the staircase, the fewer alternatives to violence they will see, ultimately resulting in the destruction of themselves, others, or both.
Intergroup relations refers to interactions between individuals in different social groups, and to interactions taking place between the groups themselves collectively. It has long been a subject of research in social psychology, political psychology, and organizational behavior.
Positioning theory is a theory in social psychology that characterizes interactions between individuals. "Position" can be defined as an alterable collection of beliefs of an individual with regards to their rights, duties, and obligations. "Positioning" is the mechanism through which roles are assigned or denied, either to oneself or others. The theory describes malleable roles and storylines that determine the boundaries of future acts and the meanings of what people say and do. The theory expands upon the work of psychologist Lev Vygotsky, especially his theory of zone of proximal development (ZPD). It emphasizes the interdependence of positions, speech and other acts, and storylines that arise from them; a change in any one aspect affects the other two. The theory provides a framework to understand a person's specific behavior by considering social, individual, and moral factors.
Thomas Fraser Pettigrew is an American social psychologist best known for his research on American civil rights, and is one of the leading experts in the social science of race and ethnic relations.
