Hazel R. Markus
Stanford University
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Primary Section: 52, Psychological and Cognitive Sciences Secondary Section: 53, Social and Political Sciences Membership Type:
Member
(elected 2016)
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Biosketch
Hazel Rose Markus is a social psychologist and cultural scientist recognized for her research on how cultures shape selves and on the role of selves in regulating behavior. Her work examines how nation, region, gender, social class, race, ethnicity, religion, and occupation influence thought, feeling, and action. Recent research focuses on sociocultural variation in agency and on interventions that can foster agency and remove barriers to agency. She is the Davis-Brack Professor in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, co-director of SPARQ: Social Psychological Answers to Real-world Questions, and the former director of the Research Institute for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity. She received her BA from California State University at San Diego and her PhD from the University of Michigan. She is the recipient of the American Psychological Association's award for Distinguished Scientific Contribution, the Donald T. Campbell award from SPSP for contributions to social psychology, and the APS William James Award for lifetime achievement for basic research. She is the former President of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, and is a fellow of both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Sciences.
Research Interests
Hazel Markus’s laboratory focuses on how culture shapes mind and behavior. She examines how many forms of culture (e.g., region of origin, ethnicity, race, social class, gender and occupation) influence the self, and in turn, psychological functioning, including cognition, emotion, motivation and intergroup processes. Her contributions include theories of self-schemas, possible selves, independent and interdependent models of agency, and culture cycles. Using a blend of experiments, surveys, and analyses of cultural products, her research investigates cultures as multilayered cycles of individuals, interactions, institutions, and ideas. Different blends of these culture cycles create different forms of agency. The clash of independent and interdependent forms of agency and their supporting culture cycles fuels both global hostilities and daily tensions between regions, races, classes, religions and organizations. Her research involves identifying and removing barriers to agency and designing programs and interventions that build possible selves and foster agency. Her current focus is on mechanisms of cultural change in organizations such as schools and police departments, and in designing effective strategies for fostering effective and inclusive communities. Recent books include "Doing Race: 21 Essays for the 21st Century", "Facing Social Class: How Societal Rank Influences Interaction", and "Clash!: How to Thrive in a Multicultural World".
