Obituaries
David Kipnis, PhD, distinguished professor in the Department of
Psychology at Temple University for 30 years, died suddenly on August 26, 1999.
An internationally renowned social and organizational psychologist, his research
and writing on power and technology was seminal in the field. Among his
contributions was the discovery of how power enters into the selection of
influence strategies. People who control resources that are valued by others, or
who are perceived to be in positions of dominance, or who perceive themselves to
be dominant over others, use a greater variety of influence strategies than
those with less power. Furthermore, people with power have a tendency to use
what Dr. Kipnis termed "strong tactics" (i.e., directive strategies)
with greater frequency than those with less power. This "metamorphic effect
of power," Dr. Kipnis believed, may explain the corrupting effect of
authoritarian leadership, and is also tacit evidence of Lord Acton's famous
admonition that "power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts
absolutely."
Dr. Kipnis was the author of numerous articles, had lectured widely in the
U.S. and abroad, and was the author of three books: Character Structure and
Impulsiveness (Academic Press, 1972), The Powerholders (University of
Chicago, 1976, revised 1982), and Technology and Power (Springer-Verlag,
1990). He served on editorial boards of leading journals, and his work was
widely cited in textbooks. A fund has been set up by his colleagues in the
Division of Social and Organizational Psychology, and donations may be sent to
the Director of the S&O Division, Department of Psychology, Temple
University, Philadelphia, PA 19122. Checks should be made payable to Temple
University, and marked "S&O Endowment, In memory of David Kipnis."
Ralph Rosnow
Other Losses
Norman Gekoski, who directed the Industrial Psychology program at Temple
(which later became part of the current Social & Organizational Psychology
program) and was a professor at Temple for decades, recently passed away in
Illinois.
Don Hantula
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