In 1945, shortly before the World War II came to an end, an important document on psychology, war, and peace was published. Gordon Allport, Ernest R. Hilgard, Otto Klineberg, Rensis Likert, and Edvard Tolman were among the 13 North American psychologists who initiated a statement or manifesto that was signed by nearly 4,000 psychologists in the United States. The document “The Psychologists’ Manifesto: Human Nature and the Peace: A Statement by Psychologists”, states that war is avoidable: “War can be avoided: war is not innate in man; it is built into men”. This position was in strong contrast to the ideas that war and fights are biologically determined, or as the manifesto says, innate in man. Rather, “men can realize their ambitions within the framework of human co-operation”.
The Manifesto further addressed oppression based on racial differences and claimed that hatred between groups can be controlled. It strongly distanced itself from “white supremacy,” and states that “The time has come for a more equal participation of all branches of the human family in a plan for collective security” (p. 4). The statement also underlines that the many prejudiced ideas about others, are “altogether false”, and that this must be understood through experience as well as through education (p. 3). The Manifesto further highlights that popular rule is the best form of government and that liberated countries must determine their own policies, or as it is formulated “complete outside authority imposed on liberated and enemy peoples without any participation of by them will not be accepted and will lead only to further disruption of the peace (p. 5).
The declaration had an optimistic content, but as many have later claimed, some of this optimism was reversed at the end of the war, when the United States used nuclear weapons for the first time. This changed the further work in such a way that the main focus for peace psychologists became more directed against the nuclear threat and nuclear war, and to a lesser extent to the other themes that the statement had contained.
The Psychologists’ Manifesto was published in Human nature and enduring peace, edited by G. Murphy, and was part of the Third yearbook for the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (pp. 454–460)[1]. As Murphy says, “This book is one expression of the conviction that psychologists can contribute to world order by pooling their training and experience in the formulation of principles which must be reckoned with if peace is to be won.” And of course, the Manifesto was a very clear expression of this.
It is important to note that many years after, a statement on violence, namely the Seville Statement on Violence was adopted by an international meeting of scientists, convened by the Spanish National Commission for UNESCO, in Seville, Spain, on 16 May 1986[2]. The group included many psychologists, and the statement had as a starting point that evidence does not show that war is part of human nature. The Statement argues that “It is scientifically incorrect to say that war or any other violent behaviour is genetically programmed into our human nature” and concludes with the following words: “Just as ‘wars begin in the minds of men’, peace also begins in our minds. The same species who invented war is capable of inventing peace. The responsibility lies with each of us.” The Seville Statement was adopted as policy by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as well as by many leading scientific organizations, including the American Psychological, Anthropological and Sociological Associations.
The Manifesto from 1945 and the Seville Statement from 1986 both express vital messages and represent important efforts to make psychology and social sciences relevant in the fight for peace, equality and democracy. Today this seems more important than ever. So, the challenge today is, are we able to formulate a new Psychologists’ Manifesto on Human Nature and Peace, 80 years after it was first issued? And in the process of drafting such a new statement, psychologists must make it crystal clear that peace must always be founded on the “universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion.”[3] We have the chance to live up to what our fellow psychologists so strongly argued, eight decades ago. We must take it!
[1] Murphy, G. (1945). The Psychologists’ Manifesto. In G. Murphy (Ed.), Human nature and enduring peace: Third yearbook for the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (pp. 454–460). Houghton Mifflin Company. https://doi.org/10.1037/11192-026
[2] Seville Statement seville_statement.pdf