Robert Jay Lifton

Robert Jay Lifton (May 16, 1926 – September 4, 2025) was an American psychiatrist and author, chiefly known for his studies of the psychological causes and effects of wars and political violence, and for his theory of thought reform. He was an early proponent of the techniques of psychohistory. Quotes Man is a symbol-forming organism. He has constant need of a meaningful inner formulation of self and world in which his own actions, and even his impulses, have some kind of "fit" with the "outside" as he perceives it. In The Development and Acquisition of Values (Bethesda, MD: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 1969) p. 42. Report of a conference, May 15-17, 1968, Washington, D.C. Reported in O. W. Markley and Willis W. Harman (eds.) Changing Images of Man (Pergamon Press, 1982) ch. 1, p. 1 External links Category:1926 births Category:2025 deaths Category:Psychiatrists from the United States Category:Non-fiction authors from the United States Category:People from New York City Category:Cornell University alumni