Brenda Nelle Major (born August 21, 1950) is an American social psychologist and distinguished professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

, where she heads the Self and Social Identity Lab.

Education and career

Major received her B.A. from the

College of Wooster {{Infobox university , image = College of Wooster seal.png , image_upright = .6 , name = The College of Wooster , former_names = University of Wooster (1866–1915) , motto ...

in 1972, her M.A. from

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public university, public research university in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the second-oldest List of colleges and universities in Ohio, university in Ohi ...

in 1975 and her Ph.D. in

social psychology Social psychology is the methodical study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Although studying many of the same substantive topics as its counterpart in the field ...

from

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

in 1978. Also in 1978, she joined the faculty of the

State University of New York at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo (commonly referred to as UB, University at Buffalo, and sometimes SUNY Buffalo) is a public research university in Buffalo and Amherst, New York, United States. The university was founded in 1846 a ...

, where she taught in the psychology department from then until 1995. From 1992 to 1995, she headed the State University of New York at Buffalo's social psychology program. In 1995, she joined the University of California, Santa Barbara's faculty, where she became a distinguished professor in 2009. She is a former fellow of

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences The Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) is an interdisciplinary research institution at Stanford University designed to advance the frontiers of knowledge about human behavior and society, and contribute to the resoluti ...

Research

Major is known for her research into

social stigma Stigma, originally referring to the visible marking of people considered inferior, has evolved to mean a negative perception or sense of disapproval that a society places on a group or individual based on certain characteristics such as their ...

and

psychological resilience Psychological resilience, or mental resilience, is the ability to cope mentally and emotionally with a crisis, or to return to pre-crisis status quickly. The term was popularized in the 1970s and 1980s by psychologist Emmy Werner as she conduc ...

. Specific subjects she has researched include the relationship between

abortion and mental health Scientific and medical expert bodies have repeatedly concluded that abortion poses no greater mental health risks than carrying an unintended pregnancy to term. Nevertheless, the relationship between induced abortion and mental health is an area o ...

. For example, she chaired a 2008

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychologists in the United States, and the largest psychological association in the world. It has over 170,000 members, including scientists, educators, clin ...

task force on the subject, which found major flaws in many of the relevant studies available at the time. The same panel found that the best available evidence indicated that a single abortion did not increase the risk of mental health problems relative to giving birth. She has also studied differences in

self-perception Self-perception theory (SPT) is an account of attitude formation developed by psychologist Daryl Bem. It asserts that people develop their attitudes (when there is no previous attitude due to a lack of experience, etc.—and the emotional respo ...

of one's abilities and performance between men and women. In 2016, she published a study showing that white Americans who identify strongly as white become more likely to support

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

in the

2016 U.S. presidential election Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket of former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and ...

if they are reminded that America's demographics are changing. Specifically, the participants in the study were reminded that whites are projected to become a minority in the United States by 2042.

Honors, awards and positions

Major is the past president of the

Society of Experimental Social Psychology The Society of Experimental Social Psychology (SESP) is a scientific organization of social scientists founded in 1965 with the goal of advancing and communicating theories in social psychology. Its first chairperson was Edwin P. Hollander.Holland ...

(SESP) and the

Society for Personality and Social Psychology A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. So ...

(SPSP). Her awards include the SESP's Scientific Impact Prize for 2014, the SPSP's Donald T. Campbell Award for 2015, and the

Kurt Lewin Kurt Lewin ( ; ; 9 September 1890 – 12 February 1947) was a German-American psychologist, known as one of the modern pioneers of social psychology, social, industrial and organizational psychology, organizational, and applied psychology in the ...

Prize from the

Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues Founded in 1936, the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) is a group of 3,000 scientists from psychology and related fields who share a common interest in research on the psychological aspects of important social and policy i ...

for 2012. She was American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellow of 2019. In 2024 Major was elected to the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

References

External links

Major's faculty pageMajor's page
at the

Social Psychology Network The Social Psychology Network (SPN) is an educational organization with more than 1,500 members worldwide. SPN was founded by psychology professor Scott Plous as a website in 1996. Development of SPN was supported by several grants from the Nation ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Major, Brenda Nelle Living people 1950 births American social psychologists American women psychologists University of California, Santa Barbara faculty College of Wooster alumni Miami University alumni Purdue University alumni University at Buffalo faculty American women academics 21st-century American women 21st-century American psychologists