Kristen Monroe (born May 17, 1946) is an American political scientist, specializing in political psychology and the scientific study of ethics. Her award winning work on altruism is widely recognized as a classic analysis of human altruism and its political significance. She was also a significant figure in the Perestroika movement in Political Science. Her current work focuses on applying scientific ethics to current political problems, such as gender equality and stem cell research.
In 1996, Monroe published The Heart of Altruism: Perceptions of a Common Humanity, which won the 1997 Best Book Award in Political Psychology, given by the American Political Science Association. It revealed the political significance and the psychological roots of altruism and focused attention on how political choices are constrained by identity, idealized cognitive models, and cognitive categorization. The Heart of Altruism was critical in illuminating the psychological roots of ethics and suggesting critical limitations in political theories - such as rational choice - that were based on self-interest. Monroe’s use of altruism as an analytical tool revealed significant limitations in political theories predicated on the assumption that human nature is innately self-interested. Her empirically-grounded critique resulted in effective challenges to scholars, such as Gary Becker (Nobel laureate in Economics) and Richard Dawkins (author of The Selfish Gene), who—Monroe claimed—try to explain away altruism in order to protect disciplinary paradigms rooted in the principle of self-interest.
Later work – notably The Hand of Compassion: Portraits of Moral Choice during the Holocaust (Princeton 2004) – continued Monroe’s empirically-grounded analyses of political behavior. Recipient of The Robert Lane Award and Honorable Mention for the Giovanni Sartori Award, The Hand of Compassion created intricate cognitive portraits that illuminated identity’s ability to shape and constrain political choice. It advanced Monroe’s view of how an altruistic perspective creates a feeling of moral salience, the psychological process that transforms generalized sentiments of concern for others’ suffering into an imperative to help.
Monroe’s work is credited with creating the microfoundations for the scientific study of ethics and for moral psychology as a field. Her work in empirical political theory, rational choice theory, ethics, and political psychology also explores issues of ethics concerning gender, with a focus on gender equality within the Academy.
As the Founder and Director of UCI’s Ethics Center, and of the The International Society of Political Psychology’s Caucus of Concerned Scholars: Committee on Altruism and Ethics, Monroe has worked to coordinate international scholarship on the psychological forces driving moral choice.
Monroe is the author or co-editor of 10 books and more than 50 journal articles or book chapters. She served as President of The International Society of Political Psychology (2007-8) and as the Vice President of both the American Political Science Association and the Midwest Political Science Association.