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Jordan B. Peterson is a Canadian professor of psychology, clinical psychologist, YouTube personality, best-selling author
Jordan Bernt Peterson (born 12 June 1962) is a Canadian psychologist, author, and media commentator. He began to receive widespread attention in the late 2010s for his views on cultural and political issues. Often characterized as conservative, Peterson has described himself as a classic British liberal and a traditionalist.
Born and raised in Alberta, he obtained two bachelor's degrees in political science and psychology from the University of Alberta and then a PhD in clinical psychology from McGill University. After researching and teaching at Harvard University, he returned to Canada in 1998 and became a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto. In 1999, he published his first book, Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief, which became the basis for many of his subsequent lectures. The book combined psychology, mythology, religion, literature, philosophy and neuroscience to analyze systems of belief and meaning.
In 2016, Peterson released a series of YouTube videos criticizing a Canadian law (Bill C-16) that prohibited discrimination against gender identity and expression. Peterson argued that the bill would make the use of certain gender pronouns compelled speech and related this argument to a general critique of "political correctness" and identity politics, receiving significant media coverage and attracting both support and criticism.
In 2018, he paused both his clinical practice and teaching duties and published his second book, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos. Promoted with a world tour, it became a bestseller in several countries. In 2019 and 2020 Peterson suffered health problems related to benzodiazepene dependence. In 2021, he published his third book, Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life, resigned from the University of Toronto, and returned to podcasting. In 2022, Peterson signed a content distribution deal with the conservative media company The Daily Wire and became Chancellor of Ralston College. His various lectures and conversations, available mainly on YouTube and podcasts, have gathered millions of views and plays.
Early life
Peterson was born on 12 June 1962 in Edmonton, Alberta.[1] He is the eldest of three children born to Walter and Beverley Peterson. Beverley was a librarian at the Fairview campus of Grande Prairie Regional College, and Walter was a school teacher.[2][3] Peterson grew up in a mildly Christian household.[4]
In junior high school, Peterson became friends with Rachel Notley and her family. Notley became leader of the Alberta New Democratic Party and the 17th premier of Alberta.[5] Peterson was a member of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from ages 13 to 18.[6][7] As a teenager, Peterson decided that "religion was for the ignorant, weak and superstitious" and hoped for a left-wing revolution, a hope that lasted until he met left-wing activists in college.[4]
Education
After graduating from Fairview High School in 1979, Peterson entered Grande Prairie Regional College to study political science and English literature, studying to be a corporate lawyer.[8] During this time he read The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell, which significantly affected his educational focus and worldview.[8] He later transferred to the University of Alberta, where he completed his BA in political science in 1982.[6] Afterwards, he took a year off to visit Europe, where he began studying the psychological origins of the Cold War; 20th-century European totalitarianism;[8][9] and the works of Carl Jung, Friedrich Nietzsche, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn,[2] and Fyodor Dostoevsky.[9]
Peterson then returned to the University of Alberta and received a BA in psychology in 1984.[10] In 1985, he moved to Montreal to attend McGill University where he earned his PhD in clinical psychology under the supervision of Robert O. Pihl in 1991, and remained as a post-doctoral fellow at McGill's Douglas Hospital until June 1993, working with Pihl and Maurice Dongier.[8][11] While at McGill University and the Douglas Hospital, Peterson conducted research into familial alcoholism and its associated psychopathologies, such as childhood and adolescent aggression and hyperactive behaviour.[6]
Career
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From July 1993 to June 1998, Peterson lived in Arlington, Massachusetts, while teaching and conducting research at Harvard University, where he was hired as an assistant professor in the psychology department. Author Gregg Hurwitz, a former student of Peterson's at Harvard, has cited Peterson as an inspiration of his, and psychologist Shelley Carson, former PhD student and now professor at Harvard, recalled that Peterson's lectures had "something akin to a cult following", stating, "I remember students crying on the last day of class because they wouldn't get to hear him anymore."[12] Following his position at Harvard, Peterson returned to Canada in 1998 to become a full professor at the University of Toronto.[10][13]
Peterson's areas of interest span many subdisciplines, most notably psychopharmacology,[6] the psychology of religion,[11][8] personality psychology,[13][14] and political psychology.[15] For most of his career, Peterson maintained a clinical practice, seeing about 20 people a week.[citation needed] He has been active on social media, and in September 2016 he released a series of videos in which he criticized Bill C-16.[16] As a result of new projects, he decided to put the clinical practice on hold in 2017,[17] and temporarily stopped teaching as of 2018.[3][1]
In February 2018, Peterson entered into an agreement with the College of Psychologists of Ontario (CPO) after a professional misconduct complaint about his communication and the boundaries he sets with his patients. The college did not consider a full disciplinary hearing necessary and accepted Peterson entering into a three-month undertaking to work on prioritizing his practice and improving his patient communications. Peterson had no prior disciplinary punishments or restrictions on his clinical practice.[18][19]
In March, 2020 the Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee ("ICRC") of the College of Psychologists of Ontario ("CPO") investigated statements made by Peterson which were alleged to be "transphobic, sexist, racist" and "not in keeping with any clinical understanding of mental health".[20] They concluded their investigation without making any orders but expressed concern that "the manner and tone in which Dr. Peterson espouses his public statements may reflect poorly on the profession of psychology" and advised him to "offer [his] opinions and comments in a respectful tone in order to avoid a negative perception toward the profession of psychology."[20]
In the fall of 2021, Peterson retired from the University of Toronto, becoming professor emeritus.[21] In May 2022, he became chancellor of Ralston College, an unaccredited liberal arts education project.[22] Along with Baroness Stroud and John Anderson, Peterson founded the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship in June 2023.[23] He hosted its international conference in October of that year.[23]
In November 2022 the ICRC ordered Peterson to complete a specified continuing education or remedial program regarding professionalism in public statements.[20][24][25] The ICRC concluded that some of the language used in his public statements between January 2022 and June 2022 "may be reasonably regarded by members of the profession as disgraceful, dishonourable and/or unprofessional" and that his statements "posed moderate risk of harm to the public" by "undermining public trust in the profession of psychology".[20] They also concluded that he "appeared to be engaging in degrading comments about a former client and making demeaning jokes on the Joe Rogan experience".[20]
Peterson denied any wrongdoing and filed for judicial review.[26][24] Peterson's appeal was reviewed in August 2023 by a panel of three judges of the Ontario Divisional Court, who unanimously upheld the college's initial decision[27] concluding that the ICRC's reasoning in their 2022 decision was "transparent, intelligible, justifiable, and reasonable" and ordered Peterson to pay the CPO $25,000 in legal costs.[20] The decision was upheld on appeal to the Court of Appeal for Ontario in January 2024.[28] In August 2024, the Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear an appeal from the appeal court decision, closing Peterson's legal options for resisting the social media training.[29]
In 2024, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau said under oath that Peterson was funded by Russian state-owned media outlet RT. In response, Peterson said he was considering legal action.[30]
Books
In 1999, Routledge published Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief, in which Peterson describes a theory about how people construct meaning, form beliefs, and make narratives.[6][31][32] According to Peterson, his main goal was to examine why individuals and groups alike participate in social conflict, exploring the reasoning and motivation individuals take to support their belief systems (i.e. ideological identification)[6] that can eventually result in murderous and pathological atrocities, such as the Gulag, the Auschwitz concentration camp, and the Rwandan genocide.[6][33]
In January 2018, Penguin Random House published Peterson's second book,12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, in which self-help principles are discussed in a more accessible style than in his previous published work.[12][17][34] The book appeared on several best-seller lists.[35][36][37]
Peterson's third book, Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life, was released on 2 March 2021.[38] On 23 November 2020, his publisher Penguin Random House Canada (PRH Canada) held an internal town hall where many employees criticized the decision to publish the book.[39]
