Marilynn Brewer

Ohio Eminent Scholar and Professor
Psychology
301G Mershon Center
614.292.9640
brewer.64@osu.edu

Education
B.A., North Park College (1963)
M.A., Northwestern University (1966)
Ph.D., Northwestern University (1968)

Teaching/Research
Dr. Brewer’s major interests include social cognition, particularly social categorization and stereotyping; intergroup relations, especially the study of ingroup biases and the effects of contact between groups on intergroup acceptance; and social identities and the self-concept.

Selected Publications
Intergroup Relations, 2nd ed. (Open University Press, 2003)

Individual Self, Relational Self, Collective Self, with C. Sedikides (Psychology Press, 2001)

“Where (who) are collectives in collectivism? Toward conceptual clarification of individualism and collectivism,” with Y. Chen (Psychological Review, 2007)

“Putting stereotype content in context: Image theory and interethnic stereotypes,” with M.G. Alexander and R.W. Livingston (Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2005)

“Social identity complexity and outgroup tolerance,” with K.P. Pierce (Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2005)

“Cross-cultural differences in relationship- and group-based trust,” with M. Yuki, W. Maddux, and K. Takemura (Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2005)

“What does it mean to be an American? Patriotism, nationalism, and American identity after September 11,” with Q. Li ( Political Psychology, 2004).

“Social identity complexity,” with S. Roccas (Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2002)

“Minority and majority discrimination: When and why,” with G. Leonardelli (Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 2001)

“Images and affect: A functional analysis of out-group stereotypes,” with M.G. Alexander and R.K. Herrmann (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1999)

Honors, Awards, and Service
Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, American Psychological Association (2007)

Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2004)

Distinguished Scientist Award, Society of Experimental Social Psychology (2004)

Associate Editor, Psychological Review (2001-03)

Editor, Personality and Social Psychology Review (1995-99)

Kurt Lewin Award, Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (1995)

President, American Psychological Society (1993-95)

Donald T. Campbell Award for Distinguished Research in Social Psychology (1992)

President, Society for Personality and Social Psychology (1990-91)

President, Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (1984-85)

Current Project
Brewer’s current major program of research is a project funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation on social identity complexity and intergroup relations.

Although ethnic identity is both psychologically and socially highly significant, it is rarely the case that ethnicity is the only significant group membership that an individual has.  Citizens of large and complex societies are differentiated or subdivided along many meaningful social dimensions, including gender and sexual orientation, life stage (e.g., student, worker, retiree), economic sector (e.g., technology, service, academic, professional), religion, political ideology, and recreational preferences. 

Each of these divisions provides a basis for shared identity and group membership that may become an important source of social identification.  Further, most of these differentiations are cross-cutting in the sense that individuals may share a common ingroup membership on one dimension but belong to different categories on another dimension. Hence, having multiple group memberships reduces the likelihood that one’s social world can be reduced to a single ingroup-outgroup distinction.

The purpose of this research is to determine how an individual’s awareness of his or her own multiple group memberships and social identities contributes to tolerance and acceptance of diversity in the society as a whole.