Cognitive and Social Development Lab

Gender / Social Groups

The majority of my work in this arena has been directed to groups defined by gender. One component of my gender research concerns age-related emergence and shifts in children’s adoption of gender roles and interests (self gender identity) and their developing knowledge (and perhaps endorsement) of cultural beliefs about what males and females should do (gender stereotypes about others). Another component of this work has been directed to identifying and explaining differences in the strength of social-group identities and stereotypes more generally and in identifying consequences of those differences (e.g., for information processing, educational choices, and occupational interests). I have also been involved in collaborative work examining the impact of interventions designed to reduce social-group stereotypes and prejudices.