tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6322739827777311964.post7172766584365195288..comments2023-11-30T13:15:01.893+01:00Comments on Drang naar Samenhang: My conversation with Diederik StapelRolf Zwaanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07617143491249303266noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6322739827777311964.post-3989665162646519532013-04-16T18:26:54.012+02:002013-04-16T18:26:54.012+02:00Thanks Dave, I have had exactly the same sentiment...Thanks Dave, I have had exactly the same sentiments as you are articulating so well here. I'd like to underscore your comment that <i>I think those who dismiss him as an evil outlier to be forgotten as quickly as possible are making a mistake. </i>. When I was asked after the Stapel case broke if I thought there were other cases like him, I said I didn't think so. Two months later I was chair of the Smeesters committee.<br /><br />I 'd never met Stapel before but he was described to me by someone who knows him well as "despite everything, a nice guy." I could see why this person said that.Rolf Zwaanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07617143491249303266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6322739827777311964.post-55258637246249998852013-04-16T16:38:41.070+02:002013-04-16T16:38:41.070+02:00Very interesting, Rolf.
As a social psychologist,...Very interesting, Rolf.<br /><br />As a social psychologist, I feel both aggrieved by Stapel's fraud -- because behavior like his undermines the credibility of the discipline -- and inclined to be open to forgiving him, although I'm not there yet.<br /><br />I don't think everyone would behave like Stapel in the same circumstances -- and I like to believe I wouldn't (I have some preliminary evidence in that I haven't yet) -- but I also don't think that makes him "evil".<br /><br />What's most troublesome to me is (1) the neglect of the harmful consequences to others that his actions were likely to have, and (2) the repeated, systematic nature of the fraud. I hate the fraud itself, too, but that's more easily forgiven than hurting others, especially those who depended on him, like his students.<br /><br />It seems to me that the challenge for Stapel will be to find some appropriate way to atone for his mistakes, and I don't think this will be easy. If he can do that, I think people may be open to hearing what he has to say. I certainly think there's a lot to be learned from how he managed to get himself in the position of committing fraud -- I don't think he's a one-in-a-million case and that this could never happen to anyone else. I think those who dismiss him as an evil outlier to be forgotten as quickly as possible are making a mistake. <br /><br />Still, it's hard to muster very much sympathy from my distance. I'm curious what it was like for you, meeting with him face to face as a person rather than as a symbolic caricature of everything that's wrong with the field?Dave Nussbaumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08638557883580286521noreply@blogger.com