Kay Deaux

Kay Deaux

Kay Deaux is an American social psychologist. Her work is focused on immigration and feminist identity. Deaux is a Professor Emerita at the Department of Psychology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and has also served as President of the Association for Psychological Science.^[1] She has been a visiting scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation and currently serves on the Advisory Committee on Cultural Contact and Immigration for the Russell Sage Foundation^[1] and on the Oxford Handbook Online Psychology Editorial Board as Senior Editor.^[2] Deaux is most well-known for her work in immigration and gender issues. She has encouraged other social psychologists to study how issues of identity, ethnicity, inter-group contact, attitudes and motivation play out in the immigration process.^[3]

Career

Deaux is a published author of three books: To Be an Immigrant, The Behavior of Women and Men, and Women of Steel. All three books are related to her sociology research surrounding immigration and feminism. Deaux faced many obstacles in her career, having been the only female professor of the staff at a graduate school and having being turned down for multiple jobs. She had to overcome a lot and eventually got her first job at Wright State University. Even then she faced discrimination, after realizing she was been paid significantly less than her male counterparts.

Her research and writing interests center on the social psychological aspects of immigration, and in particular the issues that immigrants face in negotiating identities in new circumstances. Examples of this work include stereotype threat processes among West Indian immigrants in the United States and Turkish immigrants in Germany, and the relation of ethnic identity to social/political beliefs, support for collective action, and the development of national identity. In addition, a career-long interest in gender continues, including issues at the interface of gender and immigration.

Research in psychology

Deaux began to shy away from traditional research to focus on issues related to sexism in the workplace, feminism, and general gender issues. She helped start a Women's program at Purdue University and the course was later added to the curriculum. Her research on stereotypes and discriminatory practices was used in a Supreme Court case in the U.S.

Deaux often researched men's patriarchal role in society and the earliest mentions of sexist behavior, specifically in religion. Her work compares these traditional roles and behaviors with modern stereotypes and today's gender roles. One of the oldest examples Deaux studies that is still prevalent in modern society is how women rely on men financially and for protection.^[4]

Deaux also wrote about immigration and self-esteem and found that immigrants have no regard for White American perception of their culture due to repeat appraisal from members of the same cultural heritage.^[5]

Bibliography

• Ashmore, R. D., Deaux, K., & McLaughlin-Volpe, T. (2004). An organizing framework for collective identity: articulation and significance of multidimensionality. Psychological bulletin, 130(1), 80.
• Deaux, K. (2001). Social Psychology Network: Kay Deaux. Social Psychology. 1(1).
• Gul, Pelin. (2010). Feminist Psychology: Kay Deaux. Feminist Voices. 1(1).

References