Robert B. Zajonc

Robert Bolesław Zajonc (/ˈzaɪ.ənts/ ZYE-ənts; ([za.ˈjɔ̃ts] in Polish) November 23, 1923 – December 3, 2008) was a Polish-born American social psychologist who is known for his decades of work on a wide range of social and cognitive processes. A Review of General Psychology survey, published in 2002, ranked Zajonc as the 35th most cited psychologist of the 20th century.

Robert Boleslaw Zajonc, an only child, was born in Łódź, Poland on November 23, 1923. In 1939, before the Nazi invasion of Poland reached Łódź, his family fled to Warsaw. During their short stay, the building they were living in was hit by an air raid. Both of Zajonc's parents died, and he was seriously injured. The rest of his time in Warsaw was dedicated to studying at an underground university, until he was sent to a German labor camp. He escaped the work camp, was recaptured, and then sent to a political prison in France. After escaping for the second time, he joined the French Resistance, continuing his studies at the University of Paris. In 1944, he moved to England where became a translator for the American forces during their European Campaign.

Zajonc was married to American social psychologist Hazel Rose Markus, known for her contributions to cultural psychology.

After the end of World War II, he immigrated to the United States, where he applied for undergraduate admission at the University of Michigan. Under probation, he was accepted. In 1955, he received his PhD from the University of Michigan, where he was a professor there for nearly four decades, until 1994. During his time there, he held the positions of Director of the Institute for Social Research and Director for the Research Center of Group Dynamics. He then became Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Stanford University. He died in Stanford, California from pancreatic cancer on December 3, 2008 at the age of 85.

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