I taught social psychology at State University of New York at Buffalo for 35 years and am now SUNY Distinguished Scholar Emeritus. I currently have a complementary office at the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (ICAR) at George Mason University. My major research and writing are in the areas of social conflict, negotiation, and mediation.

Some years ago, I did a long series of experiments on the antecedents of integrative agreements in negotiation (see Pruitt & Carnevale, 1993) and two large field studies of community mediation (see Pruitt, 1995). My most recent laboratory research was a series of studies on escalation in response to persistent annoyance (see Mikolic, Parker, & Pruitt, 1997). I am author of a chapter on "Social Conflict" for the fourth edition of the Handbook of Social Psychology (Pruitt, 1998) and co-author of a popular textbook on social conflict (Pruitt & Kim, 2004). My most recent research involves case studies of the Northern Ireland and South African peace processes, and I have written several theoretical articles that draw on these studies (Pruitt, 2006b, 2007, 2008, 2009).

Primary Interests:

Aggression, Conflict, Peace
Applied Social Psychology
Intergroup Relations
Interpersonal Processes
Political Psychology
Social Cognition

Aggression, Conflict, Peace
Applied Social Psychology
Intergroup Relations

Interpersonal Processes
Political Psychology
Social Cognition

Books:

Pruitt, D. G., & Carnevale, P. J. (1993). Negotiation in social conflict. Buckingham, England: Open University Press and Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Pruitt, D. G., & Kim, S. H. (2004). Social conflict: Escalation, stalemate, and settlement (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Journal Articles:

Mikolic, J. M., Parker, J. C., & Pruitt, D. G. (1997). Escalation in response to persistent annoyance: Groups versus individuals and gender effects. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 151-163.
Pruitt, D. G. (2009). Les communications de coulisse dans les négotiations inter-groupes : avantages et risques. Négociations, 1, 13-29.
Pruitt, D. G. (2008). Back-channel communication in the settlement of conflict. International Negotiation, 13, 37-54
Pruitt, D. G. (2007). Readiness theory and the Northern Ireland peace process. American Behavioral Scientist, 50, 1520-1541.
Pruitt, D. G. (2006). Negotiation with terrorists. International Negotiation, 11, 370-394.
Pruitt, D. G. (1997). Ripeness theory and the Oslo talks. International Negotiation, 2, 91-104.
Pruitt, D. G. (1995). Process and outcome in community mediation. Negotiation Journal, 11, 365-377.

Other Publications:

Pruitt, D. G. (2006). Mediation at the millennium. Chapter 20 in M. S. Herrman (Ed.), The Blackwell handbook of mediation: Bridging theory, research, and practice (pp. 395-411). Oxford, England: Blackwell.
Pruitt, D. G. (2005). Whither ripeness theory? Working Paper #25 of the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University.
Pruitt, D. G. (2003). Communication chains in negotiation between organizations. Occasional Paper #3, Program on International Conflict Resolution, Sabanci University, Istanbul, Turkey.
Pruitt, D. G. (2002). Mediator behavior and success in negotiation. In J. Bercovitch (Ed.), Studies in international mediation (2nd ed., pp. 41-54). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Pruitt, D. G. (1998). Social conflict. In D. Gilbert, S. T. Fiske, & G. Lindzey (Eds.), Handbook of social psychology (4th ed., Vol. 2, pp. 470-503). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Dean G. Pruitt
Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution
Truland Building, George Mason University
3401 Fairfax Drive, MS 4D3
Arlington, VA 22201
United States

Work: (301) 493-4982
Home: (301) 493-4982
Fax: (301) 530-2461