Carol Tavris
| Carol Tavris | |
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 Dr. Tavris at the Independent Investigations Group's 10th Anniversary Gala, August 21, 2010
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| Born | September 17, 1944 |
| Residence | United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Fields | Social Psychology |
| Institutions | University of California, Los Angeles |
| Alma mater | University of Michigan |
Carol Anne Tavris (born September 17, 1944)[1] is an American social psychologist and author. She received a Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Michigan,[2] and has taught psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles and the New School for Social Research. She is a fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science and the Center for Inquiry. Her articles, book reviews and op-eds have appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Times Literary Supplement, and other publications.[2]
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[edit] Early career
Tavris grew up in California, the granddaughter of Russian Jews who had immigrated to Chicago.[2] She took her first degree in comparative literature and sociology at Brandeis University. After Brandeis, she took up graduate study at the University of Michigan. Here she learned about the scientific method and in her own words, "fell in love with the process of science." She took a year's break from her study to write for the popular magazine Psychology Today, which she returned to after finishing her PhD.[2] At San Diego State College, she taught one of the first courses in women's studies with Carole Wade, who became a frequent collaborator; their first text was "The Longest War: Sex differences in perspective" (1977, revised 1984).[2] When Psychology Today moved to New York, she moved with it, subsequently writing for Human Nature magazine.[2]
[edit] Notable publications
The themes of Tavris' work include critical thinking, feminism and criticism of pseudoscience.[2] Her most well-known book, The Mismeasure of Woman, argues in favor of egalitarian feminism and against theories that advocate biological reductionism to explain differences between men and women. The title is a play on Stephen Jay Gould's The Mismeasure of Man. The book critiques not only cultural myths about the inferiority of women, but also the ideas of innate female superiority advanced by some groups.[3] The book won the 1992 Distinguished Media Contribution Award from the American Association for Applied and Preventative Psychology.[4][5] In Anger: The Misunderstood Emotion, published in 1982, she critiques numerous popular assumptions about anger. Contrary to some popular therapies from that time, she argues that venting anger can increase rather than diminish it. At the same time, she advocates a constructive role for anger as a driver of positive social change.[6][7] She has also co-authored four psychology textbooks with Carole Wade, including The Longest War: Sex Differences in Perspective. Mistakes were made (but not by me), co-authored with the social psychologist Elliot Aronson, uses cognitive dissonance theory and other ideas from psychological research to explain how people maintain a favorable self-image when their actions harm others. The book uses topical examples including the Bush Administration's justification for its invasion of Iraq.[8][9]
On August 21st, 2010 Dr. Tavris was honored with an award recognizing her contributions in the skeptical field, from The Independent Investigations Group during its 10th Anniversary Gala.[10]
[edit] Personal life
Tavris is married to the actor Ronan O'Casey and lives with him in the Hollywood Hills.[2]
[edit] Bibliography
- Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts (with Elliot Aronson) (Harcourt, 2007) (ISBN 978-0-15-101098-1)
- The Mismeasure of Woman: Why Women Are Not the Better Sex, the Inferior Sex, or the Opposite Sex (Simon and Schuster, 1992) (ISBN 0-671-66274-0)
- Anger: The Misunderstood Emotion (Revised edition 1989, Touchstone, ISBN 0-671-67523-0)
- Psychology (with Carole Wade) (Ten editions, latest 2011, Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-205-71146-4)
- Invitation to Psychology (with Carole Wade) (Five editions, latest 2012 (available January 2011), Prentice Hall, ISBN 978-0-205-03519-9)
- Psychology in Perspective (with Carole Wade) (Three editions, latest 2001, Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-028326-6)
- Psychobabble and Biobunk: Using Psychology to Think Critically About Issues in the News (Three editions, latest Prentice Hall, 2011, ISBN 978-0-205-01591-7)
- The Longest War: Sex Differences in Perspective (with Carole Wade) (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1977, revised 1984)
- EveryWoman's Emotional Well-Being: Heart & Mind, Body & Soul (Doubleday, 1986)
- The Redbook Report on Female Sexuality: 100,000 married women disclose the good news about sex (Delacorte, 1977)
[edit] References
- ^ Contemporary Authors Online, s.v. "Carol Anne Tavris." Accessed March 10, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Shermer, Michael (February 9, 2011). "The Measure of a Woman: An interview with social scientist Carol Tavris". eSkeptic. ISSN 1556-5696. http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/11-02-09/#feature. Retrieved February 12, 2011. originally published in The Skeptic v7 n1 1999.
- ^ Casey, Constance (April 7, 1992). "Book Review: A Scrupulous Investigation of Male-Female Inconsistencies". Los Angeles Times: p. 10.
- ^ Krikos, Linda A.; Cindy Ingold; Catherine Loeb (2004). Women's studies: a recommended bibliography. Libraries Unlimited. p. 293. ISBN 9781563085666. http://books.google.com/books?id=BFfXsiGWKyIC&pg=PA293. Retrieved 12 February 2011.
- ^ Esterle, John; Dan Clurman (1993). Conversations with critical thinkers. San Fransisco: Whitman institute. pp. 113–128.
- ^ Broyard, Anatole (February 19, 1983). "Books Of The Times: Depression's Other Side". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/19/books/books-of-the-times-240960.html. Retrieved 12 February 2011.
- ^ Brody, Jane E. (March 8, 1983). "Venting Anger May Do More Harm Than Good". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/08/science/venting-anger-may-do-more-harm-than-good.html. Retrieved February 12, 2011.
- ^ Newnham, David (May 24, 2008). "Review: Right all along: David Newnham on the dangers of relying on one's memory". The Guardian: p. Guardian Review, 8.
- ^ Vedantam, Shankar (July 9, 2007). "Bush: Naturally, Never Wrong". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/08/AR2007070800742.html?hpid=news-col-blogs. Retrieved 12 February 2011.
- ^ http://www.iigwest.com/iigawards/index.html
[edit] External links
- Home pages
- Interviews
