Lee Jussim is an American psychologist and anti-transgender activist. Jussim has been a heavy promoter of the disputed diagnosis “rapid onset gender dysphoria.”
Jussim has co-authored work with other prominent anti-trans activists, including J. Michael Bailey, David Buss, Sarah Haider, Glenn Loury, John McWhorter, Geoffrey Miller, Pamela Paresky, Steven Pinker, Wilfred Reilly, Steve Stewart-Williams, and Bo Winegard.
Background
Lee J. Jussim was born on December 2, 1955 and grew up in New York City before moving to Levittown, Long Island around age 12. About a year later, one parent died of cancer and the other became unreliable in caring for Jussim and sibling. Jussim began cultivating a “rebel” persona that continued into academia.
Like many academics who fancy themselves edgy rebels (or in Jussim’s case, a “dread pirate”), their entire careers have been about defending the status quo.
Jussim dropped out of SUNY-Binghamton in 1975. Jussim later earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Massachusetts, Boston in 1981 and a doctorate from University of Michigan in 1987. Jussim has taught at Rutgers University since 1987.
Jussim and spouse Lisa Baum (born 1956) have three adult children: Rachel (born 1986), Kayla (born 1988), and Joshua (born 1993).
Anti-transgender activism
Jussim is a founding member of Heterodox Academy, the Academic Freedom Alliance, and the Society for Open Inquiry in the Behavioral Sciences.
Jussim was triggered by several incidents involving “gender dysphoria,” including:
- When Lisa Littman was criticized for an irresponsible paper introducing “rapid onset gender dysphoria” (“ROGD”).
- When Stephen Gliske had a paper on gender dysphoria containing “major flaws” retracted.
- When “Diaz” and Bailey had a paper on “ROGD” retracted. Jussim later posted the retracted paper on a website called “Journal for Open Inquiry in Behavioral Science.”
References
Jussim, Lee (December 22, 2019). Help Stop Another Academic Outrage Mob. PsychRabble https://psychrabble.medium.com/help-stop-another-academic-outrage-mob-eca601397495
Jussim, Lee (March 20, 2019). Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria: A saga of outrage and science reform. Psychology Today https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/rabble-rouser/201903/rapid-onset-gender-dysphoria
Clark CJ, Jussim L, Frey K, Stevens ST, al-Gharbi M, Aquino K, Bailey JM, Barbaro N, Baumeister RF, Bleske-Rechek A, Buss D, Ceci S, Del Giudice M, Ditto PH, Forgas JP, Geary DC, Geher G, Haider S, Honeycutt N, Hrishikesh J, Krylov AI, Loftus E, Loury G, Lu L, Macy M, Martin CC, McWhorter J, Miller G, Paresky P, Pinker S, Reilly W, Catherine Salmon C, Stewart-Williams S, Tetlock PE, Williams WM, Wilson AE, Winegard BM, Yancey G, von Hippel W (2023). Prosocial motives underlie scientific censorship by scientists: A perspective and research agenda. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Vol. 120, Issue 48). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2301642120
Resources
Rutgers (sites.rutgers.edu)
- Lee Jussim
- https://sites.rutgers.edu/lee-jussim
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
Psychology Today (psychologytoday.com)
- Rabble Rouser
- https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/rabble-rouser
Medium (medium.com)
Twitter (twitter.com)