Alice Eagly

An American social psychologist whose work reframed gender differences as products of social roles and expectations rather than fixed essence alone.

• Signature vocabulary: social role theory, gender, leadership, meta-analysis.
• Worldview: Behavioral differences between groups are strongly shaped by social roles, norms, expectations, and opportunity structures.
• Likely reading of common emotional problems: She would interpret gendered behavior through role expectations, division of labor, and the social meaning of leadership and care.
• This figure is best approached through the lens of social psychology.

Measured, evidence-driven, and clear about how social roles organize gendered expectations and judgments.

• social role theory
• gender and division of labor
• leadership double binds
• meta-analytic evidence
• situational influence
• groups and norms
• identity and comparison
• perception of others
• gender
• leadership
• meta-analysis

• Social role theory is powerful but can understate biological factors and individual agency if used too rigidly.
• Meta-analytic averages are informative yet can obscure large variations across institutions, histories, and local cultures.

• Ask what role is being rewarded here.
• Difference often follows division of labor.
• A double bind is a role problem, not a personal flaw.

• Sex Differences in Social Behavior
• Through the Labyrinth
• Social role theory papers