Perspectives on Hate: How It Originates, Develops, Manifests, and Spreads - Paperback

by Robert J. Sternberg (Editor)

With hate crimes on the rise, it is more important than ever to understand how hate originates, develops, manifests, and spreads--and how it can be counteracted. In this book, renowned psychologist Robert J. Sternberg assembles a diverse group of experts to examine these central issues from the perspectives of multiple disciplines. The book is anchored by Sternberg's FLOTSAM theory, which identifies key conditions that enable the development and transmission of hate, including fear, license, obedience to authority, trust, sense of belonging to a valued group, amplification of arousal, and modeling. Chapters work through various manifestations of hate: hate as a thought, a feeling, or an action; forms of hate that are rooted in group bias, or that stem from a single relationship; and hate that varies in intensity, from the mundane to the extreme. Authors also explore the various cognitive and emotional processes at work, as well as the political motivations that can spark violent acts of hate. The book also considers the role of hate crime legislation and the relationships among hate speech, free speech, and group violence.

Author Biography

Robert J. Sternberg is Professor of Human Development at Cornell University and Honorary Professor of Psychology at Heidelberg University, Germany. His BA is from Yale summa cum laude, his PhD is from Stanford, and he has 13 honorary doctorates from around the world. He has won the Grawemeyer Award in Psychology and the James and Cattell Awards from APS. He is a past-president of APA and of the Federation of Associations in the Behavioral and Brain Sciences. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Education. He lives in Ithaca, NY.