In Memory Of… John Darley
Honoring scientists who have made important and lasting contributions to the sciences of mind, brain, and behavior.
John Darley, PhD (1938-2018)
Dorman T. Warren Professor of Psychology and Public Affairs
Princeton University
John M. Darley was the Dorman T. Warren Professor of Psychology and a Professor of Psychology and Public Affairs at Princeton University and had received the distinguished scientist award from the Society of Experimental Social Psychology. Dr. Darley was past president of the American Psychological Society (now Association for Psychological Science), had twice been a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, and had held a Guggenheim fellowship.
With Paul Robinson, a law professor, he had been conducting research on linkages and discontinuities between citizens’ moral perceptions and the moral principles instantiated in legal codes. Their suggestion was that there was sufficient consensus within a society about the appropriate just deserts punishments for various offenses so that an empirical theory of deserts was possible. The advantage of constructing a criminal justice system around that consensus was that the criminal justice system was seen by the citizens as a morally correct system that they should use to guide their behavior. In other words, the law was a legitimate guide to moral conduct.
His prior work had documented the forces acting on all bystanders to emergencies that often lead them to inaction. The uncomfortable consequence of this was that citizens needed to face the possibility that they too might fail to respond to the plight of others in distress. However, an awareness of how the social forces produce inaction could enable actors to overcome these forces.
Individuals Honoring John Darley:
Anonymous (1)
Adam Alter, Princeton University
* C. Daniel Batson, University of Kansas
Ellen S. Berscheid, University of Minnesota
Kevin Carlsmith, Colgate University
Lyn Carlsmith, Stanford University
Ann Marie Carosella, University at Buffalo
Lawrence Erlbaum
Russell H. Fazio, Ohio State University
* Susan T. Fiske, Princeton University
John H. Fleming, Gallup
Stephen M. Garcia, University of Michigan
Daniel T. Gilbert, Harvard University
Joan S. Girgus, Princeton University
George R. Goethals, University of Richmond
Geoffrey P. Goodwin, University of Pennsylvania
Joshua D. Greene, Harvard University
Dena M. Gromet, Princeton University
James L. Hilton, University of Virginia
Leaetta M. Hough, The Dunnette Group
Charles W. Huff, St. Olaf College
John T. Jost, New York University
Kathryn C. Oleson, Reed College
Clive Seligman, University of Western Ontario
Joseph Simmons, Yale University
Jeffrey Stone, University of Arizona
Hulda Thorisdottir, New York University
Tom R. Tyler, New York University
Mark P. Zanna, University of Waterloo
* The FABBS Foundation would like to thank Dr. C. Daniel Batson and Dr. Susan T. Fiske for nominating Dr. Darley for this honor and for leading the effort to spread the word about his nomination.
