Rensis Likert

Rensis Likert (/ˈlɪkərt/ LIK-ərt; August 5, 1903 – September 3, 1981) was an American organizational and social psychologist known for developing the Likert scale, a psychometrically sound scale based on responses to multiple questions. The scale has become a method to measure people's thoughts and feelings from opinion surveys to personality tests. Likert also founded the theory of participative management, which is used to engage employees in the workplace. Likert's contributions in psychometrics, research samples, and open-ended interviewing have helped form and shape social and organizational psychology.

In 1926, Likert earned a B.A. in Economics and Sociology from the University of Michigan; in 1932 he earned a Ph.D. in Psychology from Columbia University. He worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture until 1946. During World War II, Likert transitioned to working for the Office of War Information (OWI). At the OWI, he was appointed head of the United States Strategic Bombing Survey Morale Division (USSBS) in 1944.

After retiring at the age of 67, he formed Rensis Likert Associates, an institution based on his theories of management in organizational psychology. He is the author of numerous books about management, conflict, and behavioral research applications, including Human Organization: Its Management and Value and New Ways of Managing Conflict.

Rensis Likert was born in 1903 to George Herbert Likert and Cornelia Zonna Adrianna (Cora) Likert in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Influenced by his father, an engineer with the Union Pacific Railroad, Likert studied civil engineering at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He also worked as an intern with the Union Pacific Railroad during the Great Railroad Strike of 1922, which sparked his interest in studying organizational behavior.

After three years majoring in civil engineering, Likert switched to economics and sociology due to the influence of professor Robert Angell. Likert received a B.A. in sociology at the University of Michigan in 1926. Upon graduation, he studied theology at the Union Theological Seminary for a year. He then pursued doctoral study in psychology at Columbia University, where he was attracted to the nascent discipline of social psychology under Gardner Murphy. His 1932 Ph.D. dissertation, A Technique for the Measurement of Attitudes, developed the now well-known Likert scale. In 1938, he co-authored Public Opinion and the Individual with his mentor at Columbia, Gardner Murphy.

In 1935, Likert became Director of Research for the Life Insurance Agency Management Association (LIAMA) in Hartford, Connecticut. There, Likert began a research program to compare and evaluate the effectiveness of different modes of supervision. The research lead to the development of the three volumes of moral and agency management.

In 1939, Likert was invited by Henry Wallace to organize the Division of Program Surveys (DPS) at the Bureau of Agriculture Statistics (BAS). Its purpose was to gather farmers' thoughts about USDA-sponsored New Deal programs and to combat the effects of the Great Depression. During World War II, as the director of the Program Surveys Division in the USDA's Bureau of Agricultural Economics (BAE), Likert ran surveys for the USDA. But as the war progressed, the division ran program surveys for multiple government agencies, including the Office of War Information, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve Board, and the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey. In 1943, he developed the first national geographic sampling frame. During the war, Likert recruited other social psychologists into the growing government survey department.

On December 7, 1941, Likert gained support from the federal government on his program survey. From this the National survey was introduced which helped the federal government make decision on World War II. There were new interviews and sample methods that were the outcome of the program survey through the support of the federal government and other agencies.