Publications by year
In Press
Hoyt CL, Morgenroth T, Burnette JL (In Press). Understanding sexual prejudice: the role of political ideology and strategic essentialism.
Journal of Applied Social PsychologyAbstract:
Understanding sexual prejudice: the role of political ideology and strategic essentialism
Despite the increased visibility and acceptance of the LGBTQ community, sexual minorities continue to face prejudice and discrimination in many domains. Past research has shown that this prejudice is more prevalent among those holding conservative political views. In two studies, we merge strategic essentialism and motivated ideology theoretical perspectives to empirically investigate the link between political orientation and sexual prejudice. More specifically, we examine how conservatives strategically use different forms of essentialism to support their views of gay individuals and their reactions to messages aimed at changing essentializing beliefs. In Study 1 (N = 220), we demonstrate that conservatives endorse social essentialism (i.e. the belief that gay and straight people are fundamentally different from each other) more than liberals do. In turn, they blame gay individuals more for their sexual orientation and show more prejudice towards them. At the same time, conservatives endorse trait essentialism (i.e. the belief that sexual orientation is a fixed attribute that cannot be changed) less than liberals do, which in turn predicts greater levels of blame and prejudice for conservatives relative to liberals. In Study 2 (N = 217), we additionally show that conservatives, but not liberals, are resistant to messages aimed at increasing trait essentialism and reducing prejudice toward sexual minorities. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of these findings.
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2020
Morgenroth T, Stuart A (2020). Gender and psychology. In Naples N (Ed)
Companion to Gender Studies, Wiley Press.
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2018
Morgenroth T, Ryan M (2018). Addressing gender inequality: Stumbling blocks and roads ahead.
Group Processes and Intergroup Relations,
21, 671-677.
Abstract:
Addressing gender inequality: Stumbling blocks and roads ahead
Despite many positive changes in terms of gender equality in recent decades, women remain underrepresented in positions of power and prestige, and continue to shoulder disproportionate amounts of unpaid domestic labor. This special issue brings together an examination of the different ways in which gender inequality can be addressed, the efficacy of such approaches, and the consequences these approaches can have. In this introduction to the special issue, we discuss the focus of past and present gender research and outline issues which have received less attention. We further give an overview of the papers in this special issue, which focus on a diverse range of ways in which gender inequality can be addressed, such as collective action, workplace diversity initiatives and parental leave policies, gender-fair language, and government policies. Taken together, these papers illustrate (a) the importance of ensuring that initiatives are evidence-based, (b) the ways in which we can maximize the effectiveness of interventions, and (c) the need to understand when these initiatives may inadvertently backfire.
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Morgenroth T, Ryan MK (2018). Gender Trouble in Social Psychology: How can Butler's Work Inform Experimental Social Psychologists' Conceptualization of Gender?.
FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY,
9 Author URL.
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Morgenroth T, Ryan M (2018). Gender in a Social Psychology Context. In (Ed)
Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Psychology, Oxford University Press.
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Gender in a Social Psychology Context
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Morgenroth T, Ryan M (2018). Quotas and affirmative action: Understanding group-based outcomes and attitudes.
Social and Personality Psychology Compass Full text.
Peters K, Steffens NK, Morgenroth T (2018). Superstars Are Not Necessarily Role Models: Morality Perceptions Moderate the Impact of Competence Perceptions on Supervisor Role Modeling. European Journal of Social Psychology
2017
Morgenroth T, Fine C, Ryan MK, Genat AE (2017). Sex, Drugs, and Reckless Driving: Are Measures Biased Toward Identifying Risk-Taking in Men?.
Social Psychological and Personality Science Full text.
Morgenroth T, Heilman ME (2017). Should I stay or should I go? Implications of maternity leave choice for perceptions of working mothers.
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology,
72, 53-56.
Abstract:
Should I stay or should I go? Implications of maternity leave choice for perceptions of working mothers
© 2017 Working mothers often find themselves in a difficult situation when trying to balance work and family responsibilities and to manage expectations about their work and parental effectiveness. Family-friendly policies such as maternity leave have been introduced to address this issue. But how are women who then make the decision to go or not go on maternity leave evaluated? We presented 296 employed participants with information about a woman who made the decision to take maternity leave or not, or about a control target for whom this decision was not relevant, and asked them to evaluate her both in the work and the family domain. We found that both decisions had negative consequences, albeit in different domains. While the woman taking maternity leave was evaluated more negatively in the work domain, the woman deciding against maternity leave was evaluated more negatively in the family domain. These evaluations were mediated by perceptions of work/family commitment priorities. We conclude that while it is important to introduce policies that enable parents to reconcile family and work demands, decisions about whether to take advantage of these policies can have unintended consequences – consequences that can complicate women's efforts to balance work and childcare responsibilities.
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Paaßen B, Morgenroth T, Stratemeyer M (2017). What is a True Gamer? the Male Gamer Stereotype and the Marginalization of Women in Video Game Culture.
Sex Roles,
76(7-8), 421-435.
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What is a True Gamer? the Male Gamer Stereotype and the Marginalization of Women in Video Game Culture
© 2017, Springer Science+Business Media New York. Women and men play video games in approximately equal numbers. Despite this similarity, video gaming is still strongly associated with men. A common justification for this stereotype is that, although women might play games, they should not be considered “true” or “hard-core” gamers because they play more casually and less skillfully compared to their male counterparts. In this contribution, we review the existing literature on gender and gaming to investigate the male gamer stereotype in terms of its accuracy, persistence, effects, and future perspective. We conclude that the stereotype varies in accuracy depending on the definition of “gamer.” We further argue that the persistence of this stereotype can be explained by the fact that almost all professional and highly visible figures in gaming culture are male. On the other hand, female players who achieve a moderate level of competence are rendered invisible or are actively marginalized. We argue that the effects of the male gamer stereotype can be harmful to women, precluding them from the positive outcomes of video game play such as enhanced access to fields of science, technology, and engineering.
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2016
Ryan MK, Haslam SA, Morgenroth T, Rink F, Stoker J, Peters K (2016). Getting on top of the glass cliff: Reviewing a decade of evidence, explanations, and impact.
Leadership QuarterlyAbstract:
Getting on top of the glass cliff: Reviewing a decade of evidence, explanations, and impact
© 2015. The glass cliff refers to the tendency for women to be more likely than men to be appointed to leadership positions that are risky and precarious. This paper reviews the first decade of research into the phenomenon and has three key aims: (a) to summarize and integrate evidence of the glass cliff, (b) to clarify the processes that have been shown to underlie the glass cliff, and (c) to explore the factors that may moderate the glass cliff phenomenon. We show that the glass cliff has had a significant impact on public discourse around women and leadership but is a complex, contextual, and multiply determined phenomenon.
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2015
Morgenroth T, Rink F, Ryan M, Stoker J (2015). The Glass Cliff: Understanding the Precariousness of Women’s Leadership Position and the Underlying Mechanisms. In Welpe IM, Brosi P, Ritzenhöfer L, Schwarzmüller T (Eds.) Auswahl von Männern und Frauen als Führungskräfte: Perspektiven aus Wirtschaft, Wissenschaft, Medien und Politik, 127-133.
Morgenroth T, Ryan MK, Peters K (2015). The motivational theory of role modeling: How role models influence role aspirants' goals.
Review of General Psychology,
19(4), 465-483.
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The motivational theory of role modeling: How role models influence role aspirants' goals
© 2015 American Psychological Association. Role models are often suggested as a way of motivating individuals to set and achieve ambitious goals, especially for members of stigmatized groups in achievement settings. Yet, the literature on role models tends not to draw on the motivational literature to explain how role models may help role aspirants achieve these outcomes. In this paper, we introduce role aspirants and their motivational processes into an understanding of role modeling by drawing on expectancy-value theories of motivation to bring together the disparate literatures on role models to form a cohesive theoretical framework. We first integrate different definitions of role models into a new conceptualization where we propose that role models serve 3 distinct functions in which they influence goals and motivation: acting as behavioral models, representing the possible, and being inspirational. We then build a theoretical framework for understanding not only when, but also how, role models can effectively influence motivation and goals. This new theoretical framework, the Motivational Theory of Role Modeling, highlights ways in which the power of role models can be harnessed to increase role aspirants' motivation, reinforce their existing goals, and facilitate their adoption of new goals.
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