Dr Thekla Morgenroth (They/them/their)

In modern Western cultures, gender has traditionally been viewed as binary and stemming from biological sex. Recently, these views have started to change, both among experts and in society more broadly. However, these changes have led to vocal opposition from a wide range of groups such as some religious and some feminist groups. In this talk, I will explore the psychological mechanisms underlying this opposition and present data from two different projects that focus on the opposition to policies and practices that disrupt the gender/sex binary. These insights can help organizations identify best practices in a context where they increasingly have to position themselves in regard to changing views of gender one way or another.

Biography

Dr. Thekla Morgenroth is an Assistant Professor of Social Psychology at Purdue University. Their research examines why and how people maintain and defend social categories and hierarchies with a focus on the gender/sex binary and its effects on women and members of the LGBTQ+ community. They joined Purdue University in January 2022 after working as a post-doc at the University of Exeter, where they also obtained their PhD in Social and Organizational Psychology in 2015. Thekla is currently involved in a range of projects including research on the psychology of different feminist ideologies, attitudes towards the decriminalization of sex work, gendered perceptions of brilliance, and the link between gender nonconformity and identity denial. Thekla’s theoretical and empirical work has been published in top academic journals such as Psychological Bulletin, Perspectives on Psychological Science and Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. Outside of work, Thekla is a huge board game nerd with a love for cats and karaoke.