Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior

Professor Brescoll's research focuses on the impact of stereotypes on individuals' status and power within organizations, particularly for individuals who violate gender stereotypes. Her study "Can an Angry Woman Get Ahead? Gender, Status Conferral, and Workplace Emotion Expression," published in Psychological Science, concluded that people reward men who get angry but view angry women as incompetent and unworthy of status and power in the workplace. The research was widely reported on in the popular press including the New York Times, Business Week, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, National Public Radio, and U.S. News & World Report.

Additionally, Professor Brescoll examines how having power may differentially affect men and women's behavior at work. In 2012, she published a paper in Administrative Science Quarterly, "Who Takes the Floor and Why: Gender, Power, and Volubility in Organizations," showing that, for men, there is a strong relationship between having power and talking a lot in organizational settings (e.g., the United States Senate), but for women, there is no such relationship. Her other research interests include the cultural origins of stereotypes (e.g. the media), corporate social responsibility, and framing messages to improve health policy.

She received her MS, MPhil, and PhD in social psychology from Yale University where she was supported by a graduate research fellowship from the National Science Foundation. She completed her BA in psychology from the University of Michigan. In 2004, Professor Brescoll worked in the office of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton under a Congressional Fellowship.


Achievements and Awards
Top 10 most covered research of 2012 from Yale University for “Who Takes the Floor and Why: Gender, Power & Volubility in Organizations” (Administrative Science Quarterly)
Elected to the Society for Experimental Social Psychology, July 2012
Best Paper Based on a Dissertation, Academy of Management, Gender and Diversity in Organizations Division, 2007
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, 2000-2003
American Psychological Association’s Janet Shibley Hyde Graduate Student Research Award, 2004-2005
William B. Kessen Teaching Award, Yale University, 2002-2003
Zigler Fellowship in Child Development and Social Policy, 2002-2006
Larry Kramer Fund Research Award, Yale University, 2004-2005
Congressional Fellowship, Women’s Research and Education Institute, 2004
Jane Olejarczyk Service Award, Yale University Psychology Department, 2000-2001

Selected Publications

"Framing public support for childhood obesity policies: The effects of individualizing the problem" (with C. Barry and S. Gollust), Political Psychology, in press

"Science Faculty’s Subtle Gender Biases Favor Male Students" (with C.A. Moss-Racusina, J.F. Dovidiob, M.J. Grahama and J. Handelsmana), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109, 16474-16479.

"Bayesian Racism: A Modern Expression of Contemporary Prejudice In F. Columbus (Ed.)" (with E. L. Uhlmann), Psychology of Stereotypes, (pp. 137-150). Happaugue, NY: Nova Scientific Publishers

"The Effects of Gender and Status on Managers’ Responses to Employees’ Requests for Flexible Work Schedules” (with J. Glass and A. Sedlovskaya), Journal of Social Issues, forthcoming

"Who Takes the Floor and Why: Gender, Power, and Volubility in Organizations," Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 56, 621-640, 2012

"Masculinity, Status, and Subordination: Why Working for a Gender Stereotype Violator Causes Men to Lose Status" (with L. Sarnell and C. Moss-Rascusin), Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48, 354-357, 2011

"Hard-won and Easily Lost: The Fragile Status of Leaders in Gender Stereotype-Incongruent Occupations" (with E. Dawson and E.L. Uhlmann), Psychological Science, Vol. 21, 1640-1610, 2010

"The Price of Power: Power-seeking and Backlash Against Female Politicians" (with T. Okimoto), Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 36, 923-936, 2010

"The Motives Underlying Stereotype-based Discrimination Against Members of Stigmatized Groups" (with E. Machery and E. L. Uhlmann), Social Justice Research, Vol. 23, 1-16, 2010

"Calorie Labeling and Food Choices: A First Look at the Effects on Low-income People in New York City" (with B. Elbel, R. Kersh, and B. Dixon), Health Affairs, Vol. 28, 1110-1121, 2009

"Policy Metaphors and the Emerging Politics of Obesity” (with C. Barry and M. Schlesinger), Millbank Quarterly, Vol. 87, 7-48, 2009

"Can an Angry Woman Get Ahead? Gender, Status Conferral, and Workplace Emotion Expression" (with E.L. Uhlmann), Psychological Science, Vol. 19, 268-275, 2008

"Assessing the Feasibility and Impact of Childhood Obesity Prevention Policies" (with R. Kersh and K.D. Brownell), The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, 2008

"The Motivated Use and Neglect of Base Rates" (with D. Pizarro and E. L. Uhlmann), Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 2007

"Public Policies to Address Obesity", The Encyclopedia of Obesity, 2007 

"Are Members of Low Status Groups Perceived as Bad, or Just Badly Off? Egalitarian Negative Associations and Automatic Prejudice" (with E.L. Uhlmann and E. Paluck), Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Vol. 42, 491-499, 2006 

"Attitudes Toward Employed and Stay-at-home Parents" (with E.L. Uhlmann), Psychology of Women Quarterly, Vol.29, 436-445, 2005 

"The Correlates and Consequences of Newspaper Reports of Research on Gender Differences" (with M. LaFrance), Psychological Science, Vol. 15, No. 8, 515- 521, 2004

"Sex Changes: A Current Perspective on the Psychology of Gender." (with M. LaFrance and E. Paluck), In A. H. Eagly (Ed.), The Psychology of Gender (2nd Ed.). New York: Guilford Press., 2004

"Gender, Power and Violence: Assessing the Stereotypes of Children of Batterers" (with S.A. Graham-Bermann), Journal of Family Psychology, Vol. 14, No. 4, 600-612, 2000

Working Papers
“Effects of System-justifying Motivations on Biological Explanations for Differences Between Social Groups” (with E.L. Uhlmann), Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, second round revision

“Macho Nachos: Implicitly Priming Masculinity Increases Preferences for Unhealthy Foods” (with G.E. Newman and E.L. Uhlmann)

“Poisoning the Well: The Contagious Effects of Corporate Crises on Product Evaluations and Consumption” (with E.L. Uhlmann, G.E. Newman, L. Zhu, D. Diermeier and A. Galinsky)

Education
PhD Yale University
MPhil Yale University
MS Yale University
BA University of Michigan