Last update - 00:00 21/02/2007
Hebrew U. professor to receive Israel Prize for Psychology
By Tamara Traubmann, Haaretz Correspondent
The Israel Prize for Psychology will be awarded to Prof. Shalom Schwartz
of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, one of the country's most renowned
social psychologists. The decision of the award committee was announced Tuesday by Education Minister Yuli Tamir.
Schwartz conducts research on personal and cultural values. He has developed a theory about the universal content and structure of human values.
In his research studies, Schwartz has argued that individual norms can lead individuals to act altruistically in situations where such behavior contradicts the narrow interests of the individual. Through his research, Schwartz attempts to explain individual acts of heroism in extreme situations, such as the behavior of certain individuals during the Holocaust.
"Prof. Shalom Schwartz has earned international recognition and has done much to support his students," the judges said in explaining their reasons for awarding him the Israel Prize. "He is the world's leading scholar in the field of human values ... his influence has spread to other fields, including organizational behavior, market, political psychology and developmental psychology."