John T. Jost

John Thomas Jost, born in 1968, is an American social psychologist best known for his work on system justification theory and the psychology of political ideology. He took an undergraduate degree in psychology and human development at Duke University in 1989 and a PhD in social and political psychology at Yale University in 1995, where he was the last doctoral student of Leonard Doob and William J. McGuire and also studied with Mahzarin R. Banaji. Since 2003 he has been on the faculty of New York University as professor of psychology, with appointments in politics, sociology and data science. With Banaji he proposed a theory of system justification processes in 1994, and with Jack Glaser, Arie Kruglanski and Frank Sulloway a theory of political ideology as motivated social cognition in 2003. His research covers stereotyping, prejudice, intergroup relations, social justice and political psychology. His 2020 book A Theory of System Justification was a finalist for the PROSE Award, and he was president of the International Society of Political Psychology.