Profile of Lee D. Ross
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PROFILE Profile of Lee D. Ross ocial psychologist Lee Ross has did experiments,” he says. However, Ross never felt content to confine his says, the research was less a test of deep Sresearch to the laboratory. He pre- theoretical principles and more an attempt fers to wade knee-deep through to capture real-world phenomena in the global issues, finding ways to apply his laboratory. “We sometimes joked that expertise to problems ranging from climate we’d see things in the real world and want change and healthcare to education and to study if what was true in practice was the legal system. Ross, a professor of also possible, and ideally understandable, psychology at Stanford University (Stan- in theory,” Ross says. ford, CA) and recently elected member of He held a particular fondness for studies the National Academy of Sciences, has that “told a story in a way that students devoted a long and distinguished career to understood.” One such study (5) was observing how people behave in real-life amodified version of the Prisoner’sDi- situations, including second-track nego- lemma game, a classic demonstration of tiations and conflict resolution in the game theory from the 1950s. In the standard Middle East and Northern Ireland. His game, two robbers are arrested and sepa- findings have offered valuable insights into rately asked to testify against their partner. the factors that influence personal judg- If both betray each other, they get 3 months ment and decision-making processes. Ross’ in jail, whereas if both cooperate, then they concepts have not only become central each get only 1 month in jail. If only one to social psychology, but they have had defects, however, he gets released, and the broad impacts on fields ranging from de- cooperator gets a 1-year sentence. Re- velopmental and cognitive psychology to Ross of Lee D. courtesy Image searchers have long studied what governs behavioral economics. choices in such situations, but Ross decided Lee D. Ross to try changing the name of the game. Bias and Behavior Ross asked participants to play a stan- Ross received a PhD in psychology from points out, the fundamental attribution dard version of the Prisoner’s Dilemma Columbia University, where he met error is ingrained in humans—from the game in which the stakes were financial but Richard Nisbett, a fellow graduate student way that we perceive actions to the lan- named it either the Community or Wall in the laboratory of Stanley Schachter. The guage that we use to describe them. “It’s Street game. His research revealed that pairstayedintouchwellafterRossaccepted natural to attribute the action to the actor two times as many people cooperated a professorship in 1969 at Stanford Uni- doing the acting,” Ross explains. “We say when they thought that they were playing versity, where he began studying attribution ‘he was a brave person’ or ‘it was a brave the Community game rather than the Wall theory to determine how people explain the act,’ but we don’t know how to say ‘it was Street game. Interestingly, the players’ causes of behaviors and events. “At the a situation that made it easy to be brave’ previous reputations as likely cooperators time, attribution theory was important but or a ‘bravery-inducing situation;’ it just or defectors did not predict their behavior kind of dull,” he says. “I became interested sounds strange to say that.” It is not that at all. “It’s one of my favorite studies,” not in how we go about making attributions we cannot do it, Ross says. We know how Ross says. “At the most general level, it but when and why we do it wrong. That to use that language for emotions and task said that the way in which we respond to made attribution theory come alive!” performance. For example, we might de- a situation depends on how we subjectively Together with Nisbett, Ross coauthored scribe a stimulus as frightening or certain perceive it,” even when it is the sort of nearly100 journal articles andbook chapters tasks as hard or easy. “But we don’t nor- situation that economists normally think of as well as two widely cited books (1, 2). mally use that kind of language for things in terms of objective self interests, he says. The books, which explore human judgment like generosity, bravery, or cowardice,” In another prominent study, Ross looked and the relationship between social sit- he says. at perceived media bias during the US uations and personality, constitute some of Ross took particular interest in studying Presidential debates. When the media does Ross’ most important contributions, de- the various biases that people have (for not see the world that the way we do, scribing the core ideas of social psychology example, how people are overconfident in we accuse the media of bias, Ross says, inawaythatcouldbeappreciatedby their judgments or slow to change their a phenomenon that he describes as the scientists in many other fields. beliefs even in the face of evidence). “hostile media effect.”“If I think my can- In 1977, a few years before authoring his People also tend to think that their own didate won the debate, and you think your first book with Nisbett, Ross published behaviors are more appropriate and candidate won the debate, when someone a key paper detailing his most important common than alternative behaviors— describes it objectively, we’re both frus- early findings. This influential paper by a concept Ross named the “false con- trated that the other person didn’t see Ross (3) introduced the term “the in- sensus effect” (4). “These are all phe- things the way we think they really were,” tuitive psychologist” and explored the nomena that we see in the world, and we he says. “Both sides think that their side various cognitive and motivational biases began to see if we could demonstrate won the debate, and so, the media wasn’t that people are susceptible to when them in an experimental setting, explore fair, because it didn’t give their side credit interpreting data. He also coined the why they happened, and what factors for the victory.” term “fundamental attribution error” produced them,” Ross says. He followed this study with a study of to describe the tendency to attribute media coverage (6) surrounding a massacre someone’s behavior to their individual Experimental Approach in a Lebanese refugee camp to answer characteristics and attitudes, while un- In exploring errors and biases, Ross favored a controversial question: what degree, if derestimating the influence that the ac- an experimental approach. “If you were any, did people think that Israel was re- tual situation might have had. As Ross a social psychologist in my generation, you sponsible for the massacre? “We showed www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1205295109 PNAS Early Edition | 1of2 Downloaded by guest on September 26, 2021 that people who were pro-Israeli thought way they really are, so if they could just get ings of your church on issues of morality the television coverage was anti-Israeli, and together with the other side and explain like gay rights, abortion, and that kind people who were anti-Israeli thought the how things really are, they could make of thing, and if you’re a conservative same coverage was pro-Israeli,” Ross says. progress. But, of course, when they get to- Christian, you’re going to be somewhat at “From a psychologist’s perspective, this was gether, they’re really frustrated and disap- odds with the teachings of the gospels particularly interesting, because we mostly pointed, because they tell the other side on issues of fellowship and helping your see the world the way we want to see it.” how things really are and the other side fellow man when it comes to how you feel However, when it came to media coverage, doesn’tagree,” he says. During such con- about income redistribution and illegal people thought it was biased against them. flicts, Ross and his SCICN colleagues immigrants,” he says. Ross found that This phenomenon involves a concept encourage people to view the sources of both liberal and conservative Christians known as naïve realism that Ross considers their deadlock and even view the conflict attribute views to Jesus that are similar to be central to social psychology. “We itself in terms of ordinary psychological to their own views. “They collectively ra- think the world is the way we perceive it processes rather than focusing on the as- tionalize their own views by projecting to be, and we expect other people to see it pects of their conflict that are unique. “You them onto Christ.” the same way,” he says. “So, when they see make some progress when people who are it differently and disagree with us, we tend frustrated with each other come to see Social Psychologist’s Perspective to attribute it to their stupidity, their the problem in terms of characteristics that Ross has studied divisive issues such as lack of attention, their lack of information, make us all human rather than the unique capitalpunishment andclimatechange,and their biases, or something else that is pre- negative characteristics of people on the he has provided a psychologists’ perspec- venting them from seeing it accurately.” other side of the conflict,” he says. tive to Stanford’s climate researchers. His work with real-world conflicts has “Climatologists might think the problem is Conflict Resolution had lasting impacts, Ross says. “You come that people are ignorant, and we have to Although Ross’s early work explored how to recognize the importance of things that convince them, change their hearts and an individual behaves when confronted haven’t received enough attention in minds, while the social psychologist would with information, he eventually began to the laboratory,” he says.