Behavioral science and the Nobel Prize: a history

Abstract

The Nobel Prizes began a little over a century ago, established by the last will and testament of Alfred Nobel to recognize those individuals "who. shall have conferred the greatest benefits on mankind" (R. M. Friedman, 2001, p. 13). No social science prizes were established among the original five categories, consequently behavioral research has received little recognition. Using archival records from several locations, particularly the Nobel committee records from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, which selects the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, this article provides a history of the scientists whose work was related to psychology and who won or lost the attempt for Nobel fame. It concludes with a discussion of the importance of behavioral science in the 21st century in the context of the subject domains of the Nobel Prizes.