Yinger received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1942, and was Emeritus Professor of Sociology at Oberlin College.
In addition to being a professor of sociology and anthropology, Yinger was an author, writing 13 books and a number of journal articles.
His textbook co-authored with George E. Simpson, Racial and Cultural Minorities, went through five editions and won the 1959 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for the best scholarly work on race relations.
The award was shared with Martin Luther King Jr.[4] Yinger's writing appeared in the 1960 American Sociological Review, in which he originated the concept of a "contraculture".
Yinger's work on this topic culminated with the 1982 publication of his book, Countercultures: The Promise and Peril of a World Turned Upside Down.