Carolyn Wood Sherif
American social psychologist and pioneer of the psychology of women
Social psychologist who co-authored the Robbers Cave and social judgment work with Muzafer Sherif, then turned to gender, status and power. She helped create women's studies courses and led APA Division 35.
Why this person matters
Carolyn Wood Sherif was a full partner in research often credited mainly to her husband. She contributed to intergroup relations and attitude research, and later argued that gender bias shapes psychological research. APA Division 35 gives an award in her name.
Main contributions
Collaborative group and attitude research
She worked closely with Muzafer Sherif, including on the 1954 Robbers Cave experiment, and was a named author of its report. Her 1965 book Attitude and Attitude Change laid out social judgment theory.
Gender as social status
Her 1976 book Orientation in Social Psychology argued that gender is a social construct with biological and cultural influences, and that social status depends on factors such as gender, class and ethnicity. She also wrote on bias in psychology (1979).
Building the psychology of women
She took part in the first graduate seminar on the psychology of women at Penn State in 1972, which led to her commitment to feminist psychology. She helped create early women's studies courses, and was a founding member of APA Division 35 and an early consulting editor of Psychology of Women Quarterly.
Context and limits
Her contribution to joint work was often under-recognised, which one biography partly attributes to her not holding a doctorate for many years. Her late gender work is sourced here from two short biographies and has not been checked against her own publications. The sources give slightly different days for her birth and death, so only years are used.
In your introductory course
Social psychology.Students may meet her name through the Robbers Cave study and through the Carolyn Wood Sherif Award. Her gender work links to chapters on gender and stereotyping.
Related course reading: Psychology 2e, section 12.1. This is course context rather than a biographical source.
Years of active work
- 1961
Received her PhD from the University of Texas.
- 1972
Took part in the first graduate seminar on the psychology of women at Penn State.
- 1976
Published Orientation in Social Psychology.
- 1979
Began her term as president of APA Division 35, Psychology of Women (to 1980).
Sources
- Psychology's Feminist Voices, Carolyn Wood SherifSociety or association. Institutional biography inspected.
- Wikipedia, Carolyn Wood SherifReference work. Reference article inspected.