Applying Social Psychology to Desegregation and Energy Conservation

Abstract

The applied work described here work fits Kurt Lewin's definition of "action research." Specifically, the experiments involved intervening into a system in crisis with an independent variable aimed at reducing or resolving the crisis. Moreover, the intervention was a teachable procedure that the system could continue to use long after the experimenters had packed up their scientific gear and gone back to the university. In addition, the intervention was based on theory and data from prior laboratory experiments. But the extent to which prior theory and laboratory research was considered