Goldsmiths - University of London

Dr Herb Blumberg

BA PhD CPsychol AFBPsS ILTM

Small groups and social cognition; peace psychology; social research methods

I have been a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University and Visiting Professor at Haverford College. I am Bibliographer and Review Editor for Peace and Conflict, journal of the Peace Psychology Division of the American Psychological Association. I am a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, and also of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues and of the Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict and Violence.

I have authored or co-authored about 50 articles in social psychology and research methods and have co-authored or co-edited several books on non-violent conflict resolution (relating largely to peace and to civil rights) and on small groups. My earlier articles - for example, "On being liked more than you like", published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology - focused on social cognition. My interests gradually shifted to various topics in group dynamics and then to a combined focus on cognitive facets of social interaction. Data that I am currently analysing deal (among other things) with everyday conflict and informal communication.

Research interests

My research interests are mainly in social psychology - cognitive and behavioural aspects of small groups, social issues, and conflict resolution. I have co-authored - with Paul Hare, Martin Davies, and Valerie Kent - two volumes of a new handbook on small group research; and I continue to follow up the represented topics, which cover recent work on relevant aspects of the physical environment, personality and social characteristics, social influence, roles, leadership, social interaction, social cognition, conflict resolution, the group and the organization, and intergroup relations.

Selected publications

Blumberg, H.H., Hare, A.P., Kent, M.V. & Davies, M.F. (2011/2012). Small group research: Implications for peace psychology and conflict resolution. New York and London: Springer.

Blumberg, H.H., Hare,A.P., Kent, M.V. & Davies, M.F. (2009). Small group research: Basic issues. Oxford (England) and New York: Peter Lang.

Blumberg, H.H., Hare, A.P. & Costin, A. (2006). Peace psychology: A comprehensive introduction. Cambridge University Press.

Blumberg, H.H. (2006). A Simplified Version of the SYMLOG Trait Rating Form. Psychological Reports.

Blumberg, H.H. (2002). Understanding and dealing with terrorism: A classification of some contributions from the behavioral and social sciences. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace psychology, 8, 3-16.

Hare, A.P., Blumberg, H.H. & Kressel, G.M. (2001). Social interaction as drama. In A. P. Hare and G. M. Kressel (Eds.), Israel as Center Stage: A Setting for Social and Religious Enactments (pp. 1-11). Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey (Greenwood Group). Isbn: 0897896963

Blumberg, H.H. (2001). The common ground of natural language and social interaction in personality description. Journal of Research in Personality, 35, 289-312.

Blumberg, H.H. (2001). Modular survey design. Representative Research in Social Psychology, 25, 20-25.