Richard LaPiere

Richard Tracy LaPiere (* September 5, 1899; † 2 February 1986) was a professor of sociology at Stanford University in 1929 until 1965.

Life

LaPiere was born in Beloit (Wisconsin ) and got his BA in Economics in 1926, followed by his Master of Arts in Sociology in 1927 and his Ph.D. Sociology in 1930. All titles he won at Stanford University.

He married in 1934 and died of cancer in 1986.

Scientific Work

LaPiere became known in the 1930s for his work on " Attitudes Versus Actions" ( settings versus behavior). He spent two years in the U.S. with a couple Chinese to travel around. At that time, there was strong prejudice against Chinese in the United States. An assumption was therefore that setting matched ( rejection Chinese ) and behavior ( cancellation of an accommodation ).

However, this should not be the case. He visited 251 hotels. Of this he was only rejected in one. After the trip, he wrote to the hotel and asked in writing whether Chinese visitors would be served there. There was only one positive commitment, and the majority of cancellations - the figures reported here go far apart. It is sometimes spoken of 250 hotels, is often said that there had been only 128 responded to the written questions. In addition LaPiere who consulted a written request by the Germans, French, Japanese, and other nationalities.

At LaPieres work, there are some methodological criticism. So it is not known whether inquiries were answered by the same people who were also at the reception (possibly hiring managers and behavior of employees ). It will have a significant discrepancy between the three travelers in their external appearance and the prevailing stereotype of Chinese in the United States. Next it was the time of the Great Depression, so we can assume that each guest could pay one night, was welcome.

Nevertheless, his work inspired many follow-up visits.

Works

• Freudian Ethic (1959 ) ISBN 0837175437
• Collective Behavior ( 1938) ISBN 1430481234