Psychologists

Melvin Lerner

Citation Formats

General Reference

Psychology Atlas. "Melvin Lerner." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://psychology.interactiveatlas.org/psychologists/melvin-lerner.

APA Style

Psychology Atlas. (n.d.). Melvin Lerner. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://psychology.interactiveatlas.org/psychologists/melvin-lerner

BibTeX

@misc{psychologyatlas-melvin-lerner,
  author = {Psychology Atlas},
  title = {Melvin Lerner},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://psychology.interactiveatlas.org/psychologists/melvin-lerner},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

American social psychologist known for research on how people respond to others' undeserved suffering.

Facts

Birth Year

1929 1

Birthplace

Lorain, Ohio 1

Nationality / Culture

American 1

Defining Contribution

Beginning in 1966, ran the experiments establishing the just-world hypothesis, finding that observers who could not help a suffering victim often blamed or devalued the victim rather than give up their belief that the world is fundamentally fair. 2

Notable Work

Just-world hypothesis 1

Cross-Tradition Connections