Jim Sidanius


James H. Sidanius, known as Jim Sidanius was an American psychologist and academic. He served as John Lindsley Professor of Psychology in memory of William James and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University. He won the 2006 Harold Lasswell Award for "Distinguished Scientific Contribution in the Field of Political Psychology" from the International Society of Political Psychology and the Society for Personality and Social Psychology 2013 Career Contribution Award. He was inducted into the American [Academy of Arts and Sciences] in 2007. The Society of Experimental Social Psychology awarded Sidanius the Scientific Impact Award in 2019.

Life

Sidanius, who was of African American heritage, grew up in New York City. He earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from City College of New York in 1968. He went on to pursue a Ph.D. in psychology at the University of Stockholm, Sweden. His dissertation, passed in 1977, was titled: "Cognitive functioning and Socio-political Ideology: Studies in political psychology." He changed his last name from Brown to Sidanius upon moving to Sweden, but returned to the United States in the 1980s as a permanent resident. He was married twice.

Books