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Roy Eidelson is a psychologist who studies, writes about, and consults on the role of psychological issues in political, organizational, and group conflict settings. His most recent book is Doing Harm: How the World's Largest Psychological Association Lost Its Way in the War on Terror. He is a past president of Psychologists for Social Responsibility, a member of the Coalition for an Ethical Psychology, and the former executive director of Solomon Asch Center for Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict at the University of Pennsylvania..
Wednesday, January 2, 2008 Ten Mistakes I'll Probably Make In 2008 SHARE
Many of us view the calendar's turn from 2007 to 2008 as an opportunity to start anew and to improve upon the year just past. But despite this resolve, it's easy to predict that 2008 will be another year filled with small slips and large blunders. As a psychologist whose work focuses on five core concerns--about vulnerability, injustice, distrust, superiority, and helplessness--that are especially powerful influences in our personal and collective lives, I offer this list of ten mistakes I'll probably make on the way to 2009.
(1 comments)Wednesday, June 27, 2007 Sky Dwellers, Pie Eaters, and Their Political Enablers: Faithful Defenders of the Status Quo SHARE
In the mid-1970s the TV sitcom The Jeffersons portrayed the rags-to-riches story of a black entrepreneur living the American Dream. The pugnacious and overbearing George Jefferson (former neighbor of All in the Family's Archie Bunker) becomes a dry cleaning magnate and leaves blue-collar Queens for swanky Manhattan. As the show's theme song recounts:
Tuesday, May 1, 2007 Desperately Needed: A Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion SHARE
There are so many instructive comparisons between the film classic The Wizard of Oz and the presidency of George W. Bush that it's hard to settle on just one. Here's a particular angle that I think deserves more attention.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007 Beware the Wounded Bear SHARE
When respondents in a mid-February Pew poll were asked to use one word to describe President Bush, the single adjective offered most often was "incompetent." Meanwhile, a recent Newsweek poll revealed not only that Bush's approval rating has fallen to an all-time low, but also that a majority of respondents simply wish his presidency was already over. These rebukes cannot sit well with someone who has proclaimed himself "The Decider," who has become infatuated with the title "Commander-in-Chief," and who once told Bob Woodward "That's the interesting thing about being the President...I don't feel like I owe anybody an explanation."
Thursday, February 8, 2007 Escalation: Five Questions and Their "Yes, BUT" Answers SHARE
My work as a psychologist suggests that five core concerns often dominate our individual and collective lives. These concerns revolve around issues of vulnerability, injustice, distrust, superiority, and helplessness. Briefly, for most of us nothing is more powerful than the desire to protect and provide security for the people and things we care about (vulnerability). We often react to perceived mistreatment with anger and resentment, and an urge to right wrongs and punish those we hold responsible (injustice). We tend to divide the world into those who are trustworthy and those unworthy of our trust, in an effort to avoid harm from people with hostile intentions (distrust). We frequently aspire to be better than others in some important way-perhaps in our accomplishments, or our morality, or our destiny (superiority). Finally, we strive to avoid the experience of helplessness, and instead do our best to control the important events in our lives (helplessness).
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