Kay Deaux

Distinguished Professor

Social Personality Psychology

office:Graduate Center rm 6304.09
phone: 212.817.8714
email: kdeaux@gc.cuny.edu

Kay Deaux is a Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Women's Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center. In addition to an active research program involving both predoctoral and postdoctoral students, I teach and co-teach seminars on topics such as social identity, social psychological aspects of immigration, gender and the law, and social representations.

Professional Activities

Kay Deaux is currently President-Elect of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, and will assume the presidency in August 2004. In the past she has served as President of the American Psychological Society and the Society of Personality and Social Psychology. She has received a variety of awards and honors, including the CWP Leadership Award for Women in Psychology, the SPSSI Gordon Allport Intergroup Relations Prize (with Brenda Major), and the Carolyn Wood Sherif Award from Division 35 of the American Psychological Association. She has been a Visiting Scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation (2001-2002) and a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences (1983-1984, 1986-1987).
Together with Professors Diane Ruble (New York University) and Jacquelynne Eccles (University of Michigan), Professor Deaux directs the Social Identity in Context project, a consortial group of investigators who are working on issues of gender, ethnicity, and social identity, funded by the Russell Sage Foundation since 2000.

Research Interests

At the top of the list of my current research interests are questions related to immigration. These questions cover a broad range, including the definition and negotiation of ethnic identities; motivational processes that impact on academic performance; attitudes and stereotypes about immigrants and immigration; and the social representations of immigration in U.S. culture. Together with an interested and committed group of students, we are trying to chart a social psychological research agenda for immigration studies.
One current project, which is funded by Russell Sage Foundation, explores differences in self-regulatory strategies between first- and second-generation immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. This project builds on earlier findings in a study of West Indian immigrants, in which stereotype threat effects were found for second-generation immigrants but not for first-generation immigrants.
Continuing areas of research interest are the conceptualization and assessment of social/collective identifications, considered singly or as multiple bases of self-definition; and issues of gender stereotypes and discrimination. In the latter area, I am particularly interested in the interface between the law and gender-related employment issues, including evaluations of "the maternal wall." In all of these areas, I bring a concern for considering the person in a social context-a context that can include the immediate situation, the larger social structures, and/or the cultural beliefs and social representations that shape our world. Over the years, I have used a variety of methodological approaches in my work, including questionnaires and interviews, experiments, and archival analyses.

Recent Publications

Deaux, K. (in press, 2004). Immigration and the color line. In G. Philogene (Ed.), Racial identity in context: The legacy of Kenneth B. Clark. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Ashmore, R. D., Deaux, K. & McLaughlin-Volpe, T. (2004). An organizing framework for collective identity: Articulation and significance of multidimensionality. Psychological Bulletin, 130, 80-114.

Deaux, K., & Martin, D. (2003). Interpersonal networks and social categories: Specifying levels of context in identity processes. Social Psychology Quarterly, 66, 101-117.

Deaux, K. & PhilogPne, G. (Eds.) (2001). Representations of the social: Bridging theoretical traditions. Oxford: Breakwell.

Deaux, K. & Stewart, A. (2001). Framing gender identity. In R. Unger (Ed.), Handbook of the psychology of women and gender. New York: John Wiley.

Deaux, K. (2000). Surveying the landscape of immigration: Social psychological perspectives. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 10, 421-431.

Deaux, K. & Reid, A. (2000). Contemplating collectivism. In S. Stryker, T. J. Owens, & R. W. White (Eds.), Self, identity, and social movements (pp. 172-190). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Deaux, K. & Ethier, K. A. (1998). Negotiating social identity. In J. K. Swim & C. Stangor (Eds.), Prejudice: The target's perspective (pp. 301-323). San Diego: Academic Press.

Deaux, K. & LaFrance, M. (1998). Gender. In D.Gilbert, S. T. Fiske, & G. Lindzey (Eds), Handbook of social psychology (4th ed.). New York: Random House.

Deaux, K. (1996). Social identification. In E. T. Higgins & A. W. Kruglanski (Eds.), Social psychology: Handbook of basic principles. New York: Guilford.