ABSTRACT
Arthur Robert Jensen was possibly one of the most contentious figures in educational psychology. Jensen was not a natural fire-starter, but in 1969 following the publication of an article in the Harvard Educational Review, Jensen became one of the most divisive figures in psychological science. The term Jensenism to describe the belief that an individual’s intelligence is largely due to heredity and racial heritage entered the common lexicon. The challenges to Jensen’s theory were moral rather more than scientific, Jensen had violated a societal taboo and tackled an area that appeared to be scientifically ‘off limits’. Jensen held a distinct lack of interest in politics, but politics it would seem was interested in Jensen. The sociologist and political advisor to Richard Nixon, Pat Moynihan, is credited with coining the term, Jensenism; ‘The winds of Jensenism are blowing through Washington with gale force’.
