Background and career
Jordan Bernt Peterson (born 12 June 1962) is a Canadian psychologist, author, and media commentator. He received widespread attention in the late 2010s for his views on cultural and political issues. Often described as conservative, Peterson self-identifies as a classical liberal and traditionalist. Born and raised in Alberta, he graduated from the University of Alberta with undergraduate degrees in political science and psychology and earned his 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 videos on YouTube criticizing a proposed federal law, Bill C-16, that would prohibit 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. The bill became law in 2017. Peterson has been widely criticized by climate scientists for denying the scientific consensus on climate change and giving a platform to climate-change deniers. 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 issues related to benzodiazepine 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 became chancellor of the newly launched Ralston College, a private, unaccredited, liberal arts college in Savannah, Georgia, United States. In 2025, Peterson suffered chronic inflammatory response syndrome, causing his hospitalization for five months. Affected by health problems since attaining prominence, Peterson has been under assisted care at his residence and remained out of public life since June 2025. His various lectures and conversations, available mainly on YouTube and podcasts, have garnered millions of views.
Jordan Bernt Peterson was born on 12 June 1962 in Edmonton, Alberta. He is the oldest of three siblings, with a younger sister and a younger brother, born to Walter (1937–2024) and Beverley Peterson (1939–2024). Beverley was a librarian at the Fairview campus of Grande Prairie Regional College, and Walter was a school teacher of Norwegian ancestry. Peterson grew up in a mildly Christian household. 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. Peterson was a member of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from ages 13 to 18. 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. After graduating from Fairview High School in Fairview, Alberta, in 1979, Peterson entered Grande Prairie Regional College to study political science and English literature, studying to be a corporate lawyer. During this time he read The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell, which he said significantly affected his educational focus and worldview. He later transferred to the University of Alberta, where he completed his Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in political science in 1982. Afterwards, he took a year off to visit Europe, where he began studying the psychological origins of the Cold War; 20th-century European totalitarianism; and the works of Carl Jung, Friedrich Nietzsche, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, and Fyodor Dostoevsky. Peterson then returned to the University of Alberta and received a second degree, a B.A. in psychology, in 1984. In 1985, he moved to Montreal to attend McGill University, where he earned his Ph.D. 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. 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.
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." Following his position at Harvard, Peterson returned to Canada in 1998 to become a full professor at the University of Toronto. Peterson's areas of interest span many subdisciplines, most notably psychopharmacology, the psychology of religion, personality psychology, and political psychology. For most of his career, Peterson maintained a clinical practice, seeing about 20 people a week. He has been active on social media, and in September 2016 he released a series of videos in which he criticized Bill C-16. As a result of new projects, he decided to put the clinical practice on hold in 2017, and temporarily stopped teaching as of 2018. 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. In March 2020, the CPO's Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee (ICRC) investigated statements made by Peterson which were alleged to be "transphobic, sexist, racist" and "not in keeping with any clinical understanding of mental health". 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." In late 2021, Peterson retired from the University of Toronto, becoming professor emeritus. In May 2022, he became chancellor of the newly launched Ralston College, an unaccredited liberal arts education project. Along with Baroness Stroud and John Anderson, Peterson founded the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship in June 2023. He hosted its international conference in October of that year. In November 2022, the ICRC ordered Peterson to complete a specified continuing education or remedial program regarding professionalism in public statements. The ICRC concluded that some of the language used in his public statements between January 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". 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".
Peterson denied any wrongdoing and filed for judicial review. 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, 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. The decision was upheld on appeal to the Court of Appeal for Ontario in January 2024. 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. In October 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 considered legal action but subsequently noted that success was "unlikely" and did not file suit.
In 2013, Peterson registered a YouTube channel named JordanPetersonVideos, and immediately began uploading recordings of lectures and interviews. From 2014, uploads include recordings from two of his classes at University of Toronto ("Personality and Its Transformations" and "Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief"). In March 2016, after three years of basic uploading of course videos, Peterson announced an interest to clean existing content and improve future content. The channel gathered more than 1.8 million subscribers and his videos received more than 65 million views as of August 2018.
On 29 June 2022, Peterson's Twitter account was suspended under the site's "hateful conduct policy" after posting a tweet misgendering and deadnaming transgender actor Elliot Page, calling his physician "a criminal". Peterson said he was notified that he would be required to delete the tweet in order to restore access to his account, which he said he "would rather die than do". YouTube has demonetized two of Peterson's videos, one about his Twitter suspension and another video where he said gender-affirming care was "Nazi medical experiment-level wrong." Peterson's Twitter account was restored in November 2022 after Elon Musk acquired the company.
