PROFILE PROFILE Profile of

Jennifer Viegas Science Writer

Social Susan Fiske, Eugene standards—made me realize that the only Higgins Professor, and Public principled way to offer policy insights is to Affairs at , investigates make them evidence-based. For that, one aspects of , such as how needs scientific skills and credentials.” stereotyping, , and discrimination are encouraged or discouraged by relation- Combining Social and Cognitive ships with others. Her analytical approach, Psychology which now often employs neuroscience as Fiske continued her studies at Harvard, well as more traditional social science re- where she received her doctorate in 1978. search methods, has resulted in theoretical Fiske’s primary advisor, Harvard assistant contributions and other works that have professor Shelley Taylor, was an early influenced numerous psychology students mentor. “She taught me that the career could and researchers over the past four decades. be both scholarly and entertaining,” Fiske Fiske’s teachings additionally have gone far says. Although Fiske became an assistant beyond the classroom. A 1989 professor of psychology and social science at Supreme Court landmark decision on sex Carnegie-Mellon University upon receiving bias, for example, cited her research on sex- her doctorate, she and Taylor continued to based discrimination. In 1998, her research work together studying social cognition, and concerning biological and social drivers of particularly the effect has in social prejudice was mentioned during testimony situations. Some researchers thought that the before former United States President fields of and cognitive Susan Fiske. Photo courtesy of Princeton Clinton’s Race Initiative Advisory Board. psychology should be kept separate, but University Woodrow Wilson School. In 2013, Fiske was elected to the National Taylor and Fiske believed otherwise. In 1984, Academy of Sciences in recognition of her they coauthored the seminal book Social “ such as automatically or deliberately. Fiske distinguished and continuing achievements Cognition (1). Fiske says, The volume sur- says that for the continuum model, “The in the field of psychology. veys the intersection of social and cognitive theory and evidence explain how people psychology, showing how people make sense form impressions of other people along Family of Scientists and Civil Rights of other people and themselves.” The book Activists a continuum, from categorical and stereo- has been cited more than 10,572 times and, typical to fully individuated judgments. This Born in 1952, Fiske grew up in Chicago’s through its subsequent revisions, continues to process depends on information available Hyde Park in a racially integrated community. track developing theories and concepts. and people’s to process it.” Her father, Donald Fiske, was an accom- Fiske’s methods advisors at Harvard, plished psychology professor at the University Robert Rosenthal and David Kenny, also Power-As-Control Theory of Chicago. Her mother, Barbara Page Fiske, served as mentors. “They both taught me that In 1993, Fiske formulated a theory that ex- was a full-time civic volunteer and editor. statistics and experimental design are tools, plains how social power motivates people to Her economist grandmother and her great not cookbooks,” she says. Fiske adds, “My heed or ignore others (3). The theory, later grandmother were both suffragists who fought social-issues research mentor was Tom Petti- supported by data, holds that powerless for women’s rights. Fiske credits her brother, grew, who taught me that rigorous social- individuals attend to the powerful who Alan Page Fiske, now an anthropologist at the scientific methods can yield real-world control their outcomes, in an effort to en- University of California, Los Angeles, as being benefits.” hance prediction and control. As a result, another important role model. “Dinner table the powerless are more likely to form com- conversations were stimulating,” Fiske says. Continuum Model of Impression plex, nonstereotypic impressions. Conversely, In 1973, Fiske enrolled in Formation powerful individuals pay less attention, for her undergraduate degree in social rela- Fiske went on to teach at the University of and are more vulnerable to stereotyping as tions at , where she grad- Massachusetts at Amherst, actively conduct- a result. Fiske says, “Stereotyping and power uated magna cum laude. A passion for both ing research. In 1990, she and her student are mutually reinforcing because stereotyping civic activism and scientific learning helped developed one of the first itself exerts control, maintaining and justify- fuel her efforts. “Thenatureofthetimesand dual-process models of social cognition, ing the status quo.” my mother’s legacy made me feel obligated to known as the “continuum model.” (2) In try to make the world a better place,” Fiske psychology, dual process refers to how “ ’ — This is a Profile of a recently elected member of the National says. My parents standards and especially a phenomenon can occur in two different Academy of Sciences to accompany the member’s Inaugural my father’s empirical and measurement ways, or as a result of two different processes, Articleonpage3599.

www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1502196112 PNAS | March 24, 2015 | vol. 112 | no. 12 | 3587–3588 Downloaded by guest on September 30, 2021 Ambivalent Theory Advances in Social Cognitive the finding to current political events and Three years later, Fiske and psychologist Neuroscience national policies, writing, “Policymakers some- Peter Glick developed the Fiske is a leader in the field of social cognitive times over-allocate resources to harms that feel theory (4) as a way to understand the com- neuroscience, which examines how neural highly intentional—like preventing murders plexities of prejudice against women. “The systems are involved in social processes, such and terrorist attacks—even when data suggest theory, scale, and data show that sexism is as how individuals perceive others. In 2006, that humanitarian interests might be better not just hostile, seeing nontraditional women Fiske and former student Lasana Harris used served by dedicating some of those resources as a competitive threat, but also subjectively brain imaging to demonstrate that prejudice to other causes, like global warming and ‘ ’” benevolent, Fiske says. She explains that can occur at basic neural levels (7). The study malnutrition.” this benevolence is tied to the idealization provides evidence that although individuals The article (9) presents the conclusions of and protection of women. People who endorse may consciously see members of social out- three studies, suggesting why the over- benevolent sexism feel positively about women, groups as people, the medial prefrontal cortex estimation occurs. The first study shows that but usually only when women conform to of the brain may process some out-groups as the harm-magnification effect emerges spe- traditional ideals. something less than human. cifically for human intentional action, but not Just as stereotyping and power are mutu- In 2011 Fiske explored the phenomenon for human unintentional action. The second ally enforcing, according to Fiske, so too are of “dehumanized ,” or failing to study asks whether intended harm motivates hostile and benevolent sexism. The beliefs consider someone else’s mind and thereby blame or merely demonstrates the actor’sin- work together because benevolent sexism not exhibiting empathy (8). MRI scans of rewards women when they fulfill traditional study participants, Ivy League students rep- trinsic blameworthiness. Consistent with a roles, whereas hostile sexism punishes resenting different ethnicities, found that motivational interpretation, participants freely women who do not fit such ideals. Fiske’s their neural networks involved in social in- chose blaming, condemning, and punishing earlier work, leading to this theory, contributed teraction failed to respond to images of drug over other appealing tasks in an intentional to her testimony in the landmark Hopkins v. addicts, the homeless, immigrants, and poor harm condition, compared with a control Price Waterhouse case, which was eventually people. This failure in the part of the brain condition. The third study also measures heard by the United States Supreme Court in that is critical for social interaction could help motivation, but with converging indicators 1989. The effort led to her continuing in- to explain why even well-intentioned people of persistence (effort, rate, and duration) in terest in the use of psychological science in sometimes disregard or hurt others. Fiske blaming. Fiske says, “Together, these studies legal contexts. says, “We need to think about other peo- argue that intentional harms seem worse, ple’sexperience.It’swhatmakesthem even when they are not. Perceived intent Content Model fully human to us.” In recognition of this catalyzes a motivated social cognitive process In 2000 Fiske accepted a position as pro- and other research, Fiske received the related to social prediction and control.” fessor of psychology at Princeton Univer- Fellow Award, Association In 2014 Fiske was elected president of the sity, where she remains today, now holding for Psychological Science (2008–2009); the Federation of Associations in Behavioral the title of Professor of Public Affairs at – ’ Guggenheim Fellowship (2009 2010); and and Brain Sciences. She also was elected as Princeton s Woodrow Wilson School of the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Public and International Affairs. Her hus- a member of the American Philosophical Award, American Psychological Association Society. Fiske and her team continue to band, , is a professor of (2010); and she was honored as a Corre- sociology at Princeton. He was elected as investigate perceived intent. As Fiske says, sponding Fellow, British Academy (2011). “ a member to the National Academy of We make sense of each other by inferring Sciences in 1998. Revealing the Power of Perceived Intent people’s intent for good or ill. This deter- In 2002 Fiske, in collaboration with Glick Fiske’s Inaugural Article (9) builds upon mines who is friend or foe, whom we blame and former student , developed prior research, which found that people and how much, and how we try to manage the (5). Its theory overestimate damage caused by intentional other people’s impressions of us in return. and data show that people locate groups harms relative to those thought to be un- In the future, I want to explore people as along two primary dimensions: warmth and intentional. In a paper (10) published last containing multitudes, possessing many competence. “Warmth” in this case refers to year, Fiske and coauthor Daniel Ames applied cultures and categories.” the individuals’ trustworthiness and friendli- ness. The stereotype content model explains that warmth and competence differentiate 1 Fiske ST, Taylor SE (1984) Social Cognition (Random House, New York). respectively follow from perceived status and competition. JPers 2 Fiske ST, Neuberg SL (1990) A continuum model of Soc Psychol 82(6):878–902. out-group , such that the traits impression formation, from category-based to individuating 6 Fiske ST (2012) Journey to the edges: Social structures and neural are the first by which an individual is auto- processes: Influence of information and motivation on attention and maps of inter-group processes. Br J Soc Psychol 51(1):1–12. matically evaluated by another. The model interpretation. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology ed 7 Harris LT, Fiske ST (2006) Dehumanizing the lowest of the low: was originally formulated to understand the Zanna MP, (Academic, New York), Vol 23, pp 1–74. responses to extreme out-groups. Psychol Sci 17(10):847–853. 3 Fiske ST (1993) Controlling other people. The impact of power on 8 Harris LT, Fiske ST (2011) Dehumanized perception: social classification of groups within the stereotyping. Am Psychol 48(6):621–628. A psychological means to facilitate atrocities, torture, and genocide? United States. It has since been applied to 4 Glick P, Fiske ST (1996) The ambivalent sexism inventory: J Psychol 21(3):175–181. the analysis of social classes and structures Differentiating hostile and benevolent sexism. J Pers Soc Psychol 9 Ames DL, Fiske ST (2015) Perceived intent motivates people to magnify 70(3):491–512. observed harms. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 112:3599–3605. across different countries and historical 5 Fiske ST, Cuddy AJ, Glick P, Xu J (2002) A model of (often 10 Ames DL, Fiske ST (2013) Intentional harms are worse, even periods (6). mixed) stereotype content: Competence and warmth when they’re not. Psychol Sci 24(9):1755–1762.

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