Daryl Bem

Professional Life
Daryl J. Bem was born in June of 1938. He studied physics at Reed College, and graduated with a B.A. in 1960. He continued his education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but soon after switched his focus from physics to social psychology because of his interest in the civil rights movement and the climate of desegregation at the time. He began exploring the changing attitudes of people and public opinion. He studied at the University of Michigan, and received his Ph.D. in social psychology in 1964. He began teaching immediately and has taught at such prestigious universities as Stanford, Carnegie-Mellon, Harvard and Cornell, where he stayed until his retirement in 2007. Bem is married to Sandra Lipsitz, a professor of psychology. He is the author of several books and has been called to testify in front of the United States Senate with regard to the psychological impact of police interrogation. He has also been called as a witness in many different proceedings that revolve around sexual discrimination.

Contribution to Psychology
Bem developed his own theory of “self-perception,” in which he believes that people’s perception of themselves is based on their behaviors and is similar to that of what someone else might infer. Bem is also known for his study of parapsychology, psychic phenomena and extra-sensory perception. He has examined what determines if a person will be homosexual or heterosexual through his Exotic Becomes Erotic theory. Bem believes that children’s sexuality and psychological arousal is influenced by their environment and temperament and is a result of their bias to conform or not conform to the activities and behaviors of their own gender. Ultimately, when children reach adulthood, they will be sexually attracted to the gender that they perceive as most different from themselves. Bem used analysis of gay men and women to support this theory, discovering that most homosexual people report participating in non-conforming gender behaviors during their youth.

His most recent work on parapsychology has created a wave of controversy. He has delved into extra-sensory perception (ESP) over the past decade and has conducted many experiments involving precognition. Having practiced magic as a hobby since a boy, Bem believes that science is a way of discovering things and nothing should be discounted. He continues to disrupt the scientific and academic communities with his publications and articles pertaining to psi, but insists his work is evidentially based and accurate.