Carolyn Sherif
Encyclopedia
Carolyn Wood Sherif was an American social psychologist
who helped to develop social judgment theory
. Wood connected this psychology to feminist psychology by comparing daily lifestyles, where women must cope with discrimination, to the ideal lifestyles, where people overcome these issues (Fine, 2002). She was born Carolyn Wood on 26 June 1922, the youngest of three children of Bonny Williams and Lawrence Anselm Wood, in Loogootee, Indiana
. In 1945, she married fellow psychologist, Muzafer Sherif
. In July 1982, Carolyn Sherif died of cancer at age 60 in State College, Pennsylvania.
In 1961, Carolyn Wood Sherif completed her Ph.D, under Wayne Holtzman, from the University of Texas.
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Courtesy of WorldCat.org
Division 35: Society for the Psychology of Women sponsors the Carolyn Wood Sherif Award, awarded annually to those who exemplify excellence in the field in regards to professional leadership, mentoring/teaching, and research/scholarship.
Social psychology
Social psychology is the scientific study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. By this definition, scientific refers to the empirical method of investigation. The terms thoughts, feelings, and behaviors include all...
who helped to develop social judgment theory
Social judgment theory
Social judgment theory is a persuasion theory proposed by Muzafer Sherif and Carl Hovland .Please note: This is an overview of the social Psychology term. The author has focused this use of SJT in the social psychology theory. However, there is another standpoint which is from Judgement and...
. Wood connected this psychology to feminist psychology by comparing daily lifestyles, where women must cope with discrimination, to the ideal lifestyles, where people overcome these issues (Fine, 2002). She was born Carolyn Wood on 26 June 1922, the youngest of three children of Bonny Williams and Lawrence Anselm Wood, in Loogootee, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
. In 1945, she married fellow psychologist, Muzafer Sherif
Muzafer Sherif
Muzafer Sherif was one of the founders of social psychology...
. In July 1982, Carolyn Sherif died of cancer at age 60 in State College, Pennsylvania.
Undergraduate
Carolyn Wood earned a Bachelors of Science from Purdue University in 1943 with highest distinction in an experimental program developed for women science majors, focusing on studying the sciences within humanist and historical perspectives. Wood had little interest in psychology at this point, but the sudden shift of American's attitudes from isolationism to war support, along with a desire to better the world and her personal success, encouraged Wood to pursue a career in social psychology.Graduate
Wood went on to obtain a Master's Degree from the University of Iowa in 1944 in social psychology. While working on her master's thesis, Wood read The Psychology of Social Norms (1936), written by Muzafer Sherif, whose work would have a profound impact on Wood.Post-Graduate
In 1944, following the completion of her Master's, Wood went to work for Audience Research Inc., at Princeton. After a short employment, Wood left the survey research field, and applied to a research assistant position with Muzafer Sherif. In December of 1945, Sherif and Wood married, and began a long relationship of collaboration. However, considering Princeton did not accept women as graduate students until 1961 , Carolyn Sherif studied at Columbia while her husband continued work at Princeton . Carolyn returned to graduate school as a full time student at the University of Texas in 1958.In 1961, Carolyn Wood Sherif completed her Ph.D, under Wayne Holtzman, from the University of Texas.
Robber's Cave Experiment
In, what is now considered, a classic study in social psychology aimed at the origin of prejudice and discrimination in social groups, Muzafer and Carolyn Sherif observed 24 twelve-year-old boys at a summer camp. The results would later be related directly to Realistic conflict theoryRealistic conflict theory
Realistic conflict theory dates back to the beginning of the 20th century as one of the earliest of social psychological theories regarding prejudice and discrimination. Realistic conflict theory proposes that intergroup conflicts arise between groups as they compete over the same limited resources...
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Publications
Note: Carolyn's work often went unnoticed, due to the fame of her husband, Muzafer Sherif. Many of these works cite Carolyn as a co-author or editor, some due to "corrections" of authorship made later which would list her husband as first author . In Carolyn's own words:- Sherif, Muzafer W (1964). Reference groups exploration into conformity and deviation of adolescents. New York: Harper and Row.
- Sherif, Muzafer W (1965). Problems of youth: transition to adulthood in a changing world. Chicago: Aldine Pub. Co.
- Sherif, Carolyn W (1967). Attitude, ego-involvement, and change. New York: Wiley.
- Sherif, Muzafer W (1969). Social Psychology. New York: Harper & Row.
- Sherif, Muzafer W (1969). Interdisciplinary relationships in the social sciences. Chicago: Aldine.
- Sherif, Muzafer W (1953). Groups in harmony and tension an integration of studies on intergroup relations. New York: Harper.
- Sherif, Carolyn W (1965). Attitude and attitude change the social judgment-involvement approach. Philadelphia: Saunders.
- Sherif, Muzafer W (1956). An outline of social psychology. New York: Harper.
- Sherif, Carolyn W (1976). Orientation in social psychology (0-06-046104-7, 978-0-06-046104-1). New York: Harper & Row.
- Sherif, Muzafer (2009). Interdisciplinary relationships in the social sciences (0-202-36287-6, 978-0-202-36287-8). New Brunswick [N.J.]: AldineTransaction.
- Baer, Helen R (1974). A topical bibliography (selectively annotated) on psychology of women,. [Washington D.C.: American Psychological Association.
- Sherif, Muzafer (2009). Problems of youth : transition to adulthood in a changing world (0-202-36288-4, 978-0-202-36288-5). New Brunswick [N.J.]: AldineTransaction.
- Kraut, Alan G (1982). G. Stanley Hall Lecture Series. Vol. 2 (0-912704-60-8, 978-0-912704-60-9). Washington D.C.: American Psychological Association.
- Sherif, Muzafer W (1969). Instructor's manual to accompany Social psychology. New York: Harper & Row.
- Sherif, Muzafer W (1975). Psicología social. México: HARLA Harper & Row Latinoamericana.
- Sherif, Carolyn W (1965). Reference groups and self concepts as factors in educational and vocational problems of youth. Norman Okla.: Institute of Group Relations.
- Sherif, Muzafer W (1970). Problemas de la juventud estudios técnicos de la transición a la edad adulta en un mundo en cambio. México: Editorial F. Trillas.
- Sherif, Muzafer W (1953). Groups in harmony and tension. New York: Harper.
- Sherif, Mustapha W (1969). Social Psychology. New York: Harper and Row.
- Sherif, Mustapha W (1964). Reference groups : exploration into conformity and deviation of adolescents. New York: Harper and Row.
Courtesy of WorldCat.org
Awards and Distinctions
Dr.Sherif has received many awards and distinctions for her work. She received the Association for Women in Psychology's Distinguished Publication award in 1981. She also received an award for her contribution to education in psychology in 1982. She was also appointed the editor of the Journal of Social Issues. However, due to her untimely death in July 1982, she was not able to take on this honour.Carolyn Wood Sherif Award
In response to the significant contributions Dr. Sherif has made to the field of Psychology of Women, APAAmerican Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States. It is the world's largest association of psychologists with around 154,000 members including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. The APA...
Division 35: Society for the Psychology of Women sponsors the Carolyn Wood Sherif Award, awarded annually to those who exemplify excellence in the field in regards to professional leadership, mentoring/teaching, and research/scholarship.
Additional Readings
Additional information regarding Carolyn Wood Sherif, and the psychology of women, can be found in the following:- Denmark, F. L. (1998). Women and psychology: An international perspective. American Psychologist, 53(4), 465-473.
- Hogan, J. D. & Sexton, V. S. (1991) Women and the American Psychological Association. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 15(4), 23-634.
- Kite, M. E., Russo, N. F., Brehm, S. S., Fouad, N. A., Hall, C. C., Hyde, J. S., Keita, G. P. (2001). Women psychologists in academe: Mixed progress, unwarranted complacency. American Psychologist, 56(12), 1080-1098.
- Moradi, B. & Townsend, D. T. (2006). Raising students’ awareness of women in psychology. Teaching of Psychology, 33(2), 113-117.
- O'Connell, A. N. & Russo, N. F. (1980). Eminent women in psychology: Models of achievement [Special issue of Psychology of Women Quarterly], 5(1).
- O'Connell, A. N. & Russo, N. F. (1983). Models of achievement: Reflections of eminent women in psychology. New York: Columbia University Press.
- O'Connell, A. N. & Russo, N. F. (1988). Models of achievement: Reflections of eminent women in psychology. Volume 2. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
- O'Connell, A. N. & Russo, N. F. (1990). Women in psychology: A bio-bibliographic sourcebook. NY: Greenwood Press.
- O’Connell, A. N. & Russo, N. F. (1980). Models for achievement: Eminent women in psychology. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 5(1), 6-10.
- Scarborough, E., & Furumoto, L. (1987). Untold lives: The first generation of American women psychologists. NY: Columbia University Press.
- Shields, S. A. (2004). Carolyn Wood Sherif. In S. Ware, Notable American women (pp. 587-589). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
- Shields, S. A. (2006). Pioneers in psychology: Magda B. Arnold (1903-2002). In D. A. Dewsbury, L.T. Benjamin, Jr., & M. Wertheimer (Eds.), Portraits of pioneers in psychology. Volume VI. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
- Storm, C. & Gurevich, M. (2001). Looking forward, looking back, Women in psychology. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie canadienne, 42(4), 245-248.