Rebecca Bigler

Bigler received a B.A. degree at Oberlin College in 1986. They attended graduate school at Pennsylvania State University where they began conducting research on gender schemata and internalized sexualization under the supervision of Lynn Liben.{{Cite web|url=https://neurotree.org/neurotree/tree.php?pid=263384|title=Neurotree - Rebecca Bigler Family Tree|website=neurotree.org|access-date=2018-12-07}} Bigler obtained a master's degree in 1988{{Cite journal|last1=Bigler|first1=Rebecca S.|last2=Liben|first2=Lynn S.|date=1990|title=The Role of Attitudes and Interventions in Gender-Schematic Processing|journal=Child Development|volume=61|issue=5|pages=1440–1452|doi=10.2307/1130754|jstor=1130754|pmid=2245736}} and a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology in 1991.{{Cite journal|last1=Bigler|first1=Rebecca S.|last2=Liben|first2=Lynn S.|date=1992|title=Cognitive Mechanisms in Children's Gender Stereotyping: Theoretical and Educational Implications of a Cognitive-Based Intervention|journal=Child Development|volume=63|issue=6|pages=1351–1363|doi=10.2307/1131561|jstor=1131561|pmid=1446556}} With Liben, Bigler conducted widely cited research on gender differentiation in development, social stereotyping and prejudice.{{Cite journal|last1=Liben|first1=Lynn S.|last2=Bigler|first2=Rebecca S.|date=2002|title=The Developmental Course of Gender Differentiation: Conceptualizing, Measuring, and Evaluating Constructs and Pathways|journal=Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development|volume=67|issue=2|pages=i–183|jstor=3181530|pmid=12465575 }}{{Cite journal|last1=Bigler|first1=Rebecca S.|last2=Liben|first2=Lynn S.|date=2007|title=Developmental intergroup theory: Explaining and reducing children's social stereotyping and prejudice|journal=Current Directions in Psychological Science|language=en|volume=16|issue=3|pages=162–166|doi=10.1111/j.1467-8721.2007.00496.x|s2cid=145065729|issn=0963-7214}} Liben and Bigler also co-edited the 2014 volume The Role of Gender in Educational Contexts and Outcomes.{{Cite book|title=The role of gender in educational contexts and outcomes|last1=Bigler|first1=Rebecca S.|last2=Liben|first2=Lynn S.|isbn=9780124115767|edition= First|location=San Diego, CA|oclc=891381907|date = 2014-09-04}}

Bigler joined the faculty of the Department of Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin in 1991. Currently, Bigler is the executive director of the American Council for Coeducational Schooling.{{Cite web|url=https://thesanfordschool.asu.edu/acces/people|title=People {{!}} T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics|website=thesanfordschool.asu.edu|language=en|access-date=2018-11-24}}

Bigler's research program has focuses on the development of stereotyped attitudes associated with gender and race/ethnicity. They are known for work highlighting the impact of gender stereotypes on children's development, especially for girls.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/31/upshot/boys-and-girls-constrained-by-toys-and-costumes.html|title=Boys and Girls, Constrained by Toys and Costumes|date=2015-10-30|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-12-02|language=en}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.dailytexanonline.com/person/rebecca-bigler|title=Rebecca Bigler {{!}} The Daily Texan|website=www.dailytexanonline.com|language=en|access-date=2018-10-08}} Bigler aims to discover how and when children develop stereotyped views, and what external and internal observations impact children and their thinking. Bigler and their former student Sarah McKenney express concerns about girls' limited choices in Halloween costumes, and the tendency for girls' clothing and toys to promote the value of "being hot and sexy."{{Cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/rebecca-s-bigler/sexy-halloween-costumes-f_b_6084210.html|title=Sexy Halloween Costumes for Girls? Now That's Scary|last1=Bigler|first1=Rebecca S.|last2=McKenney|first2=Sarah|date=2014-10-31|website=Huffington Post|language=en-US|access-date=2018-10-08}} Their research has shown that adolescent girls who internalize beliefs about the importance of being sexually attractive to boys show increased rates of body surveillance and body shaming{{Cite journal|last1=McKenney|first1=Sarah J.|last2=Bigler|first2=Rebecca S.|date=2014-11-03|title=Internalized Sexualization and Its Relation to Sexualized Appearance, Body Surveillance, and Body Shame Among Early Adolescent Girls|journal=The Journal of Early Adolescence|language=en|volume=36|issue=2|pages=171–197|doi=10.1177/0272431614556889|s2cid=145653521|issn=0272-4316}} and perform worse in school and on standardized test scores than girls who score low on such beliefs.{{Cite journal|last1=McKenney|first1=Sarah J.|last2=Bigler|first2=Rebecca S.|date=2014-10-27|title=High Heels, Low Grades: Internalized Sexualization and Academic Orientation Among Adolescent Girls|journal=Journal of Research on Adolescence|language=en|volume=26|issue=1|pages=30–36|doi=10.1111/jora.12179|issn=1050-8392}} From a young age, girls may internalize gender stereotypes about how girls should act and behave, including how they should look and the types of clothes they should wear. Girls who internalize the beliefs that they must be attractive to men may spend more time on makeup and focus less on academics.

Other research has examined the formation of intergroup attitudes among students in school settings.{{Cite journal|last=Bigler|first=Rebecca S.|date=1995|title=The Role of Classification Skill in Moderating Environmental Influences on Children's Gender Stereotyping: A Study of the Functional Use of Gender in the Classroom|journal=Child Development|volume=66|issue=4|pages=1072–1087|doi=10.2307/1131799|jstor=1131799}}{{Cite journal|last1=Bigler|first1=Rebecca S.|last2=Jones|first2=Lecianna C.|last3=Lobliner|first3=Debra B.|date=1997|title=Social Categorization and the Formation of Intergroup Attitudes in Children|journal=Child Development|volume=68|issue=3|pages=530–543|doi=10.2307/1131676|jstor=1131676|pmid=9249964}}{{Cite journal|last1=Patterson|first1=Meagan M.|last2=Bigler|first2=Rebecca S.|date=2006|title=Preschool Children's Attention to Environmental Messages About Groups: Social Categorization and the Origins of Intergroup Bias|journal=Child Development|language=en|volume=77|issue=4|pages=847–860|doi=10.1111/j.1467-8624.2006.00906.x|pmid=16942493|issn=0009-3920|hdl=1808/11798|url=https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/bitstream/1808/11798/1/Preschool.pdf|hdl-access=free}} Bigler speaks strongly about how models provided to children contribute to social stereotyping and prejudice among children as they grow up.{{cite web|url=https://www.tolerance.org/classroom-resources|title=Teaching Tolerance|date=2017-06-28}} To Bigler, saying "Good morning boys and girls" is similar to saying "Good morning blacks and whites" as it draws attention to social categories that result in children viewing themselves and others differently.{{Cite news|url=https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/fall-2005/good-morning-boys-and-girls|title=Good Morning Boys and Girls|date=2005-09-01|work=Teaching Tolerance|access-date=2018-10-08|language=en}} In a widely cited study, Bigler examined gender stereotyping in relation to classroom practices. In some classes, the teacher referred to students by gender ("boys" vs. "girls") while, in others classes, the teacher referred to mixed gender groups according to t-shirt colors ("red" or blue"). Teachers were explicitly instructed not to favor or show preference to one group of children over the other. After four weeks, children in classes where they were referred to as "boys and girls" showed increased gender stereotyping, whereas no change was observed in classes that used t-shirt colors to distinguish groups. Teachers may unknowingly impose gender stereotypes upon their pupils when they refer children as boys and girls. Such language appears to create tensions in the classroom that impact how children view and treat one another.

• Bigler, R. S. (1995). The role of classification skill in moderating environmental influences on children's gender stereotyping: A study of the functional use of gender in the classroom. Child Development, 66(4), 1072–1087.
• Bigler, R. S., Jones, L. C., & Lobliner, D. B. (1997). Social categorization and the formation of intergroup attitudes in children. Child Development, 68(3), 530–543.
• Bigler, R. S., & Liben, L. S. (2007). Developmental intergroup theory: Explaining and reducing children's social stereotyping and prejudice. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16(3), 162–166.
• Hyde, J. S., Bigler, R. S., Joel, D., Tate, C. C., & van Anders, S. M. (2018). The future of sex and gender in psychology: Five challenges to the gender binary. American Psychologist. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/amp0000307
• Liben, L. S., & Bigler, R. S. (2002). The developmental course of gender differentiation: Conceptualizing, measuring, and evaluating constructs and pathways. Monographs of the society for research in child development, i-183.
• Signaler, M. L., Bigler, R. S., & Liben, L. S. (1993). Developmental differences in children′ s gender schemata about others: A meta-analytic review. Developmental Review, 13(2), 147–183.

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Category:Living people

Category:American women psychologists

Category:21st-century American psychologists

Category:Developmental psychologists

Category:University of Texas at Austin faculty

Category:Oberlin College alumni

Category:Pennsylvania State University alumni

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:21st-century American women scientists

Category:American women academics