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Feature

Hazel Rose Markus


Professor of Psychology
Stanford University




Hazel Rose Markus is the Davis-Brack Professor in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. Her research focuses on the role of self in regulating behavior and on the ways in which the social world shapes the self. She investigates people as culturally-shaped shapers of their cultures, including those of nation or region of origin, gender, social class, race, ethnicity, and occupation.

Education

Markus received her B.A. from California State University at San Diego and her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.

Awards

Markus is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the British Academy and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She has received the American Psychological Association's award for Distinguished Scientific Contribution, the Donald T. Campbell award from SPSP for contributions to social psychology, the APS William James Award for lifetime achievement for basic research, and is a member of National Academy of Sciences.

Leadership

Markus is faculty director of Stanford SPARQ, and former Director of Research Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (CCSRE). She is a member of the Successful Societies Advisory Committee, a program of the Canadian Institute For Advanced Research (CIFAR), and is the former President of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.

SPARQ | Faculty Director

  • Bridging research and practice to sparq change

    Stanford SPARQ is a “do tank” that partners with industry leaders to tackle disparities and inspire culture change using insights from behavioral science. We work in criminal justice, economic mobility, education, and health.

Feature

Selected Publications


Current Papers

Ridgeway, C. L., & Markus, H. R. (in press). What is status? How does it matter for inequality? The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences.

Howe, L., Hardebeck, E., Eberhardt, J., Markus, H. R., & Crum, A. (in press).  Patients’ physical response to healthcare treatments are influenced by provider race and gender. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Turnwald, B. P., Horri, R. I., Markus, H. R., & Crum. A. J. (in press). Psychosocial context and food heatlthiness in top-grossing American films. Health Psychology.

Niiya, Yu, Handron, C., & Markus, H.R. (2022). Will this help be helpful? Giving aid to strangers in the U.S. and Japan. Frontiers in Psychology.

Nanakdewa, K., Madan, S., Savani, K, & Markus, H. R. (2021). The salience of choice fuels independence: Implications for self-perception, cognition, and behavior. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(30).

Eberhardt, J., Markus, H. R., & Hamedani, M. (2021). Bringing the world into our science. APS Observer, 34(4).

Markus, H. R. (2021). Gender inequality and well-being: Concepts and their measures are cultural products—a reflection on Li et al. (2021). Psychological Science, 32(6), 952–954.

Li, X., Han, M., Cohen, G. L., & Markus, H. R. (2021). Passion matters but not equally everywhere: Predicting achievement from interest, enjoyment, and efficacy in 59 societies. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(11).

Turnwald, B. P., Handley-Miner, I. J., Samuels, E. A., Markus, H. R., & Crum, A.J. (2021). Nutritional analysis of food and beverages in top-grossing U.S. movies: 1994-2018. JAMA Internal Medicine, 181(1), 61-70.

Thomas, C., Otis, N., Abraham, J. R., Markus, H. R., & Walton, G. M. (2020). Toward a science of delivering aid with dignity: Experimental evidence and local forecasts from Kenya. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(27), 15546-15553.

Madan, S. Nanakdewa, K. Savani, K., & Markus, H. R. (2020). The paradoxical consequences of choice: Often good for the individual, perhaps less so for society. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 29(1), 80-85.

Rappleye, J., Komatsu, H., Uchida, Y., Krys, K., & Markus, H. R. (2020). ‘Better policies for better lives’?: Constructive critique of the OECD’s (mis)measure of student well-being. Journal of Education Policy, 35(2), 258-282.

Clobert, M., Sims, T. L., Yoo, J., Miyamoto, Y., Markus, H. R., Karasawa, M., & Levine, C. S. (2020). Feeling excited or taking a bath: Do distinct pathways underlie the positive affect-health link in the U.S. and Japan? Emotion, 20(2), 164-178.

Cheryan, S., & Markus, H. R. (2020). Masculine defaults: Identifying and mitigating hidden cultural biases. Psychological Review, 127(6), 1022-1052.

Hook, C., & Markus, H. R. (2020). Health in the U.S.: Are appeals to choice and personal responsibility making Americans sick? Perspectives in Psychological Science, 15(3), 643-664.

Lyons-Padilla, S., Markus, H.,R., Monk, A., Radhakrishna, S., Shah, R., Dodson, D., & Eberhardt, J. (2019) Race influences professional investors’ financial decisions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 116(35), 17225-17230.

Levine, C. S., Markus, H. R., & Austin, M. K., Chen, E., & Miller, G. E. (2019). Students of color show health advantages when they attend schools that emphasize the value of diversity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(13), 6013-6018.

Hamedani, M. G., & Markus H. R. (2019). Understanding culture clashes and catalyzing change: A culture cycle approach. Frontiers in Psychology, 10(700), 1-7.

Markus, H. R., & Hamedani, M. G. (2019). People are culturally-shaped shapers: The psychological science of culture and culture change. In S. Kitayama & D. Cohen (Eds.), Handbook of Cultural Psychology (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.

Grusky, D., Hall, P. A., & Markus, H. R. (2019). The rise of opportunity markets: How did it happen & what can we do? Daedalus, 148(3), 19-45.

Adams, G., Estrada-Villalta, S., Sullivan, D., & Markus, H. R. (2019). The psychology of neoliberalism and the neoliberalism of psychology. Journal of Social Issues, 75(1), 189-216.

Conner, A. L., Boles, D. Z. Markus, H. R., Eberhardt, J. L., & Crum, A. J. (2019). Americans’ health mindsets: Content, cultural patterning, and associations with physical and mental health. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 53, 321-332.

Miyamoto, Y., Yoo, J., Levine, C. S., Park, J., Boylan, J. M., Sims, T., Markus, H. R., Kitayama, S., Kawakami, N., Karasawa, M., Coe, C. L., Love, G. D., & Ryff, C. D. (2018). Culture and social hierarchy: Self- and other-oriented correlates of socioeconomic status across cultures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 115(3), 427-445.

Acs, G., Maitreyi, A., Conner, A. L., Markus, H. R., Patel, N., Lyons-Padilla, S. & Eberhardt, J. L. (2018). Measuring mobility from poverty. Washington, DC: US Partnership on Mobility from Poverty.

Markus, H. R. (2017). American = Independent? Perspectives on Psychological Science, 12(5), 855-866.

Markus, H. R., & Stephens, N. M. (2017). Editorial overview: Inequality and social class: The psychological and behavioral consequences of inequality and social class: A theoretical integration. Current Opinion in Psychology, 18, iv-xii.

Recent Public Outreach

Brady, L., Fryberg, S., Markus, H. R., Griffiths, C., Yang, J., Rodriquez, P. (2020, November 5). Families not engaging with school? Rethink the problem. Education Week.

Markus, H. (2019, May). What should free speech mean in college?: Listen and learn. Stanford Magazine, 51-53.

Hamedani, M., Markus, H. R., & Moya, P. (2020, April 25). Doing DEI better in the workplace. Diversity Journal.

Hamedani, M., Markus, H. R., & Tsai, J. (2020, May 1). For a more equitable America, understand race and racism as actions we do and can undo. Stanford Social Innovation Review. 

Hamedani, M., Markus H. R., & Moya, P. (2020, May 14). Pushing back against racism and xenophobia on campuses. Inside Higher Ed.

Theory: Self & Culture

Markus, H. R., & Conner, A. C. (2014). Clash! How to thrive in a multicultural world. New York: Penguin (Hudson Street Press).

Markus, H. R., & Conner, A. C. (2011). The culture cycle. Edge.

Markus, H. R. & Kitayama, S. K. (2010). Cultures and selves: A cycle of mutual constitution. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 5(4), 420-430.

Adams, G., & Markus, H. R. (2002). Culture as patterns: An alternative approach to the problem of reification.Culture and Psychology, 7(3), 283-296.

Fiske, A., Kitayama, S., Markus, H. R., & Nisbett, R. E. (1998). The cultural matrix of social psychology.In D. Gilbert, S. Fiske, & G. Lindzey (Eds.), The Handbook of Social Psychology, Vol. 2 (4th ed., pp. 915-981). San Francisco: McGraw-Hill.

Markus, H. R., Mullally, P. R., & Kitayama, S. (1997). Selfways: Diversity in modes of cultural participation. In U. Neisser & D. A. Jopling (Eds.), The conceptual self in context: Culture, experience, self-understanding (pp. 13–61). Cambridge University Press.

Oyserman, D. & Markus, H. R. (1993). The sociocultural self.In J. Suls (Ed.), Psychological perspectives on the self, Vol 4: The self in social perspective. (4th ed., pp. 187-211). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Markus, H., & Kitayama, S. (1991). Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. Psychological Review, 98, 224-253.

Markus, H., & Nurius, P. (1986). Possible selves. American Psychologist, 41 954-969.

Agency, Motivation & Culture

Markus, H. R. (2016). What moves people to action? Culture and motivation. Current Opinion in Psychology, 8(4), 161-166.

Fu, A. S., & Markus, H. R. (2014). My mother and me: Why tiger mothers motivate Asian Americans but not European Americans. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 40(6), 739-749.

Hamedani, M. G., Markus, H. R., & Fu, A. S. (2013). In the land of the free, interdependent action undermines motivation. Psychological Science, 24(2), 189-196.

Plaut, V., & Markus, H. (2005). The “inside” story: A cultural-historical analysis of how to be smart and motivated, American style. In A. Eliot & C. Dweck (Eds.), Handbook of culture and motivation. (pp. 457-488). New York: The Guilford Press.

Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (2003). Models of agency: Sociocultural diversity in the construction of action. In V. Murphy-Berman & J. Berman (Eds.),The 49th Annual Nebraska symposium on motivation: Cross-cultural differences in perspectives on self (pp. 1-57). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

Emotions, Attitudes & Culture

Riemer, H., Shavitt, S., Koo, M., & Markus, H. R., (2014). Preferences don’t have to be personal: Expanding attitude theorizing with a cross-cultural perspective. Psychological Review, 121(4), 619-648.

Park, J., Kitayama, S., Markus, H. R., Coe, C. L., Miyamoto, Y., Karasawa, M… Ryff, C. D. (2013). Social status and anger expression: The cultural moderation hypothesis. Emotion, 13(6), 1122-1131.

Uchida, Y., Townsend, S., & Markus, H. R. (2009). Emotions as within or between people: Cultural variation in lay theories of emotion expression and inference. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35(11), 1427-1439.

Kitayama, S., Markus, H. R., & Kurokawa, M. (2000). Culture, emotion and well-being: Good feelings in Japan and the United States. Emotion and Motivation, 14(1), 93-124.

Health, Well-Being & Culture

Kitayama, S., Park, J., Boylan, J., Miyamoto, Y., Levine, C. S, Markus, H R., Karasawa, M., Coe, C., Kawakami, N., Love, G. & Ryff, C. (2015). Expression of anger and ill health in two cultures: An examination of inflammation and cardiovascular risk. Psychological Science, 26(2). 211-220.

Curhan, K. B., Sims, T., Markus, H. R., Kitayama, S., Karasawa, M., Kawakami, N., … Ryff, C. (2014). Just how bad negative affect is for your health depends on culture. Psychological Science, 25(12), 2277-2280.

Ryff, C. D., Love, G. D., Miyamoto, Y., Markus, H. R., Curhan, K. B., Kitayama, S., Park, J., Kawakami, N., Kan, C., & Karasawa, M. (2014). Culture and the promotion of well-being: Understanding varieties of attunement to the surrounding context. In G. A. Fava & C. Ruini (Eds.), Increasing psychological well-being in clinical and education settings: Interventions and cultural contexts. New York: Springer.

Curhan, K., Levine, C. S., Markus, H. R.,Kitayama, S., Park, J., Karasawa, M … Ryff, C. D. (2014). Subjective and objective hierarchies and their relations to psychological well-being: A U.S./Japan comparison. Social and Personality Psychology Science, 5(8), 855-864.

Miyamoto, Y., Boylan, J. M., Coe, C. L., Curhan, K. B., Levine, C. S., Markus, H. R., … Ryff, C. D. (2013). Negative emotions predict elevated interleukin-6 in the United States but not in Japan. Brain, Behavior and Immunity.

Kitayama, S., Karasawa, M., Curhan, K., Ryff, C., & Markus, H. (2010). Independence and interdependence predict health and well-being: Divergent patterns in the United States and Japan. Frontiers in Psychology, 1(163), 1-10.

Race/Ethnicity & Diversity

Brannon, T. N., Markus, H. R., & Taylor, V. J. (2015). ‘Two souls, two thoughts’, two self-schemas: Positive consequences of double consciousness for self-construal and academic performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 108(4), 586-609.

Townsend, S.M., Fryberg, S. A., Wilkins, C. L., & Markus, H. R. (2012). Being mixed: Who claims a biracial identity? Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 18(1), 91-96.

Moya, P., & Markus, H. R. (2010). Doing race: An introduction. In H. Markus & P. Moya (Eds.), Doing race: 21 essays for the 21st century. New York: W. W. Norton & Co.

Markus, H. R. (2010). Who am I?: Race, ethnicity and identity. In H. Markus & P. Moya (Eds.), Doing race: 21 essays for the 21st century. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.

Townsend, S. Markus, H. & Bergsieker, H. (2009). My choice, your categories: The denial of multiracial identities. Journal of Social Issues, 65(1), 185-204.

Markus, H. (2008). Pride, prejudice, and ambivalence: Toward a unified theory of race and ethnicity. American Psychologist, 63(8), 651-670.

Fryberg, S., Markus, H. R., Oyserman, D., & Stone, J. (2008). Of warrior chiefs and Indian princesses: The psychological consequences of American Indian mascots. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 30(3), 208-218.

Markus, H. R. (2008). Identity matters: Ethnicity, race, and the American dream. In R. Shweder, M. Minow & H. R. Markus (Eds.), Just schools: Pursuing equal education in societies of difference. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Markus, H. R., Steele, C. M., & Steele, D. M. (2000). Colorblindness as a barrier to inclusion: Assimilation and nonimmigrant minorities. Daedalus, 129(4), 233-259.


Social Class as Culture

Stephens, N. M., Brannon, T. N., Markus, H. R., & Nelson, J. E. (2015). Feeling at home in college: Fortifying school-relevant selves to reduce social class disparities in higher education: The importance of fit and empowerment. Social Issues and Policy Review, 9(1),1-24.

Curhan, K., Levine, C. S., Markus, H. R.,Kitayama, S., Park, J., Karasawa, M … Ryff, C. D. (2014). Subjective and objective hierarchies and their relations to psychological well-being: A U.S./Japan comparison. Social and Personality Psychology Science, 5(8), 855-864.

Stephens, N. M., Markus, H. R., & Phillips, L. T. (2014). Social class culture cycles: How three gateway contexts shape selves and fuel inequality. Annual Review of Psychology, 65, 611-634.

Stephens, N. M., Fryberg, S. A., Markus, H. R., Johnson, C. S., & Covarrubias, R. (2012). Unseen disadvantage: How the American universities’ focus on independence undermines the academic performance of first-generation college students. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102, 1178-1197.

Schwartz, B., Markus, H. R., & Snibbe, A. C. (2006, Feb 26). Is freedom just another word for many things to buy? The New York Times.

Choice & Culture

Savani, K., Stephens, N., & Markus, H.R. (2011). The unanticipated interpersonal and societal consequences of choice: Victim-blaming and reduced support for the public good. Psychological Science, 22(6), 795- 802.

Savani, K., Markus, H. R., Naidu, N. V. R., Kumar, S., & Berlia, N. (2010). What counts as a choice? U.S. Americans are more likely than Indians to construe actions as choices. Psychological Science, 14(1)(3), 391-398.

Stephens, N. M., Fryberg, S. A., & Markus, H. R. (2011). When choice does not equal freedom: A Sociocultural analysis of agency in working-class contexts. Personality and Social Psychology Science, 2(1), 33-41.

Stephens, N., Hamedani, M., Markus, H., Bergsieker, H. B., & Eloul, L. (2009). Why did they “choose” to stay? Perspectives of Hurricane Katrina observers and survivors. Psychological Science, 20, 878-886.

Savani, K., Markus, H., & Conner A. L. (2008). Let your preference be your guide? Preferences and choices are more tightly linked for North Americans than for Indians. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95(4), 861-876.

Region as Culture

Plaut, V. C., Markus, H. R., Treadway, J. R., & Fu, A. S. (2012). The cultural construction of self and well-being: A tale of two cities. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38(12), 1644-1658.

Plaut, V., Markus, H. R., & Lachman, M. (2002). Place matters: Consensual features and regional variation in American well-being and self. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(1), 160-184.

Fu, A. S., Plaut, V. C., Treadway, J. R., & Markus, H. R. (2014). Places, products, and people make each other up: Culture cycles of self and well-being. In J. Rentfrow (Ed.), Psychological Geography. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Gender & Thought

Josephs, R. A., Markus, H., & Tafarodi, R. W. (1992). Gender and self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63(1), 391-402.

Markus, H. R. & Oyserman, D. (1989). Gender and thought: The role of the self-concept. In M. Crawford & M. Gentry (Eds.),Gender and thought(pp. 100-127). New York: Springer-Verlag.

Markus, H., Crane, M., Bernstein, S., & Siladi, M. (1982). Self-schemas and gender. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 42,38-50.

Books

Clash!


Reveals how a single culture clash - the clash of independence and interdependence - ignites both global hostilities and daily tensions between regions, races, genders, classes, religions, and organizations.

CultureClashes.org

Doing Race


A collection of new essays by an interdisciplinary team of authors that gives a comprehensive introduction to race and ethnicity.

Facing Social Class


A team of psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, linguists, and legal scholars examine the many ways we communicate our class position to others and how social class shapes our daily interactions.

Engaging Cultural Differences


Liberal democracies are based on principles of inclusion and tolerance. But how does the principle of tolerance work in practice in countries such as Germany, France, India, South Africa, and the United States, where an increasingly wide range of cultural groups holds often contradictory beliefs about appropriate social and family life practices?

Just Schools


Noted legal scholars, educators, and social scientists examine schools with widely divergent methods of fostering equality to explore the possibilities and limits of equal education today.

Social Psychology


Distinguished by its current-events emphasis, this textbook integrates classic and contemporary research to bring the outside world into the field of social psychology.

Video

Being Human Goes Beyond the Biological

[1 minute, 12 seconds]


Our Cultures, Our Selves: The Sources of Belongingness

[1 hour, 22 minutes]

Contact Information

Hazel Rose Markus
Stanford University
Department of Psychology, Building 420
Stanford, CA 94035

hmarkus@stanford.edu