The Hazing is a science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 short story

Short story

A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...

 by Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...

. It was first published in the October 1942 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories and reprinted in the 1972 collection The Early Asimov

The Early Asimov

The Early Asimov or, Eleven Years of Trying is a 1972 collection of short stories by Isaac Asimov. Each story is accompanied by commentary by the author, who gives details about his life and his literary achievements in the period in which he wrote the story.-Contents:* "The Callistan Menace" *...

. Discussing the story in The Early Asimov, the author noted that it is set in the same fictional universe as his earlier stories "Homo Sol

Homo Sol

Homo Sol is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov that was first published in the September 1940 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and reprinted in the 1972 collection The Early Asimov. It deals with the proposed acceptance into a galactic federation of hominid civilizations of the...

" and "The Imaginary", but featured different characters. "The Hazing" was the thirtieth story written by Asimov, and the twenty-eighth to be published. Due to the peculiar workings of the science fiction magazine publishing industry, the story appeared a month before "The Imaginary".

Plot summary

In the Homo Sol stories, the Galactic Federation has developed psychology into a hard science, with quantitative equations and solutions for behavior. Consequently, master psychologists are important and highly regarded.

A few years after the people of Homo Sol have joined the Galactic Federation, a group of students from Earth

Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...

 arrive to study at Arcturus University. Shortly thereafter, they are kidnapped as an upperclassman's prank (hazing

Hazing

Hazing is a term used to describe various ritual and other activities involving harassment, abuse or humiliation used as a way of initiating a person into a group....

) and deposited on a planet inhabited only by primitive people, who are quarantined until they develop hyperspace

Hyperspace (science fiction)

Hyperspace is a plot device sometimes used in science fiction. It is typically described as an alternative region of space co-existing with our own universe which may be entered using an energy field or other device...

travel. According to Federation psychology, the students should panic and embarrass themselves when they are captured. However, by the use of "primitive" psychology the Solarians persuade the natives that they are in fact gods from beyond the stars. When the kidnappers return, they are also captured by the natives, but are rescued by the Earth people.