Cold War
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Commentary
The Cold War (1945-1991). At its height in the 1950s, the Cold War greatly influenced not only the types of research funded for psychologists, but also the 'mindset' of a whole generation reared on fears of nuclear attack. The McCarthyite witchhunts of left-leaning intellectuals during the 1950s were mainly focused on the entertainment industry in America. However, they left a lasting legacy on the psyche of a generation, while also isolating many psychologists in the Eastern Bloc. Some psychologists, like Erikson, were interested in the Cold War and its psychological effects, per se. For others the influence of the Cold War on their choice of research agenda was perhaps more subtle