Thekla Morgenroth
@theklamorgenroth.bsky.social
Assistant professor of social psychology at Purdue. Obsessed with my cat Kartoffel. Recruiting a grad student for Fall 2026!
New paper! "Reviewing Research on Transgender and Nonbinary People in Social Psychology: Insights and Future Research Directions" With the magical @kirameans.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
September 22, 2025 at 11:50 AM
New paper! "Reviewing Research on Transgender and Nonbinary People in Social Psychology: Insights and Future Research Directions" With the magical @kirameans.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
14/n Everyone thought harm-based arguments were the most convincing, regardless of condition. But, in line with our predictions, the relative convincingness of harm (compared to fairness/purity) was increased when talking to the political outgroup. (figure is for Republican participants)
March 8, 2025 at 10:46 PM
14/n Everyone thought harm-based arguments were the most convincing, regardless of condition. But, in line with our predictions, the relative convincingness of harm (compared to fairness/purity) was increased when talking to the political outgroup. (figure is for Republican participants)
10/n ... I care more about other stuff anyway." So we gave opponents and supporters information either in line or contradicting their views. As expected, people claimed harm was a less important reason for their views when the information was in opposition to their pre-existing views:
March 8, 2025 at 10:46 PM
10/n ... I care more about other stuff anyway." So we gave opponents and supporters information either in line or contradicting their views. As expected, people claimed harm was a less important reason for their views when the information was in opposition to their pre-existing views:
7/n So everyone says harm matters. But does it really? When we measure importance of harm (& other foundations), it doesn't predict opposition. Only importance of fairness and purity are predictive.
March 8, 2025 at 10:46 PM
7/n So everyone says harm matters. But does it really? When we measure importance of harm (& other foundations), it doesn't predict opposition. Only importance of fairness and purity are predictive.
6/n In Study 2, we replicated these patterns when asking people directly about harm (& other foundations) and found similar patterns for another topic related to women's bodily autonomy (abortion).
March 8, 2025 at 10:46 PM
6/n In Study 2, we replicated these patterns when asking people directly about harm (& other foundations) and found similar patterns for another topic related to women's bodily autonomy (abortion).
5/n As you can see in the figure, harm was the "common ground" between opponents and supporters - the only foundation that these groups used with similar frequency.
March 8, 2025 at 10:46 PM
5/n As you can see in the figure, harm was the "common ground" between opponents and supporters - the only foundation that these groups used with similar frequency.
Our paper "The strategic use of harm-based moral arguments in the context of women’s bodily autonomy" is now out in JPSP! 🥳with @shellkryan.bsky.social, @abiclick29.bsky.social, and @nadirafaber.bsky.social. 🧵
March 8, 2025 at 10:46 PM
Our paper "The strategic use of harm-based moral arguments in the context of women’s bodily autonomy" is now out in JPSP! 🥳with @shellkryan.bsky.social, @abiclick29.bsky.social, and @nadirafaber.bsky.social. 🧵
First paper of 2025! Very grateful that I was asked to write a commentary on Jackson & Bussey (2024): "Conceptualizing transgender experiences in psychology: Do we have a ‘true’ gender?" (which is great and y'all should read!): bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
January 16, 2025 at 1:18 PM
First paper of 2025! Very grateful that I was asked to write a commentary on Jackson & Bussey (2024): "Conceptualizing transgender experiences in psychology: Do we have a ‘true’ gender?" (which is great and y'all should read!): bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Just reading through my students evaluations. This is exactly the kind of comment I want: "Really enjoyed the class! A great part of class were the times of exams and having the pictures of the instructors cats up." 😁
December 22, 2024 at 1:21 PM
Just reading through my students evaluations. This is exactly the kind of comment I want: "Really enjoyed the class! A great part of class were the times of exams and having the pictures of the instructors cats up." 😁
Super excited that our paper "The strategic use of harm-based moral arguments in the context of women’s bodily autonomy" (with @nadirafaber.bsky.social, @shellkryan.bsky.social, and Abi Click) was just accepted at JPSP! What an exciting way to end the semester!
December 13, 2024 at 6:58 PM
Super excited that our paper "The strategic use of harm-based moral arguments in the context of women’s bodily autonomy" (with @nadirafaber.bsky.social, @shellkryan.bsky.social, and Abi Click) was just accepted at JPSP! What an exciting way to end the semester!
Excited that this work was just accepted at the European Journal of Social Psychology! "The Moralization of Women's Bodies." With the magical @shellkryan.bsky.social , Madisyn Arnold, and @nadirafaber.bsky.social.
December 6, 2024 at 6:41 PM
Excited that this work was just accepted at the European Journal of Social Psychology! "The Moralization of Women's Bodies." With the magical @shellkryan.bsky.social , Madisyn Arnold, and @nadirafaber.bsky.social.
So proud of @kirameans.bsky.social ! Go read this article in which we explore how power and status in social psychology (and psychology more broadly) is tied to the gender/sex binary.
December 1, 2024 at 3:09 PM
So proud of @kirameans.bsky.social ! Go read this article in which we explore how power and status in social psychology (and psychology more broadly) is tied to the gender/sex binary.
New paper! "Heteroprofessionalism: The Power of the Gender/Sex Binary in the Workplace" with the magical @teriak.bsky.social and Jojanneke van der Toorn. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
September 23, 2024 at 5:44 PM
New paper! "Heteroprofessionalism: The Power of the Gender/Sex Binary in the Workplace" with the magical @teriak.bsky.social and Jojanneke van der Toorn. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
15/n Finally, if you’re wondering which psychological variables are most predictive of endorsement of different feminist beliefs: the most consistent predictors were attitudes toward different groups, gender essentialism, and gender system justification. E.g.:
May 27, 2024 at 12:19 PM
15/n Finally, if you’re wondering which psychological variables are most predictive of endorsement of different feminist beliefs: the most consistent predictors were attitudes toward different groups, gender essentialism, and gender system justification. E.g.:
14/n How common are these groups? The most shocking take-away for me from this study was how common gender-critical views are. The 1st image shows the % of the different groups. The 2ndimage shows these divided based on views on trans issues. These aren't just a few loud voices.
May 27, 2024 at 12:18 PM
14/n How common are these groups? The most shocking take-away for me from this study was how common gender-critical views are. The 1st image shows the % of the different groups. The 2ndimage shows these divided based on views on trans issues. These aren't just a few loud voices.
13/n These groups also differed in psychological variables such as essentialism, attitudes towards different groups, system justification, etc. (they made me delete these figures from the paper, so I’m glad y’all at least get to enjoy them in all their rainbow glory).
May 27, 2024 at 12:17 PM
13/n These groups also differed in psychological variables such as essentialism, attitudes towards different groups, system justification, etc. (they made me delete these figures from the paper, so I’m glad y’all at least get to enjoy them in all their rainbow glory).
12/n As you can see here, someone identifying as a feminist tells us very little. For most scales, some feminist groups score higher than non-feminists, while others score lower. The exception is the belief that women should be free to choose whatever path is right for them.
May 27, 2024 at 12:17 PM
12/n As you can see here, someone identifying as a feminist tells us very little. For most scales, some feminist groups score higher than non-feminists, while others score lower. The exception is the belief that women should be free to choose whatever path is right for them.
11/n As you can see in this dendrogram, trans issues and views on sex work were most divisive. Also, labelling these clusters was HARD. We went through so many different labels and these are still far from perfect.
May 27, 2024 at 12:16 PM
11/n As you can see in this dendrogram, trans issues and views on sex work were most divisive. Also, labelling these clusters was HARD. We went through so many different labels and these are still far from perfect.
9/n Our samples so far were also not very representative, making it hard to really know how commonly these beliefs are. So we recruited quasi-representative samples (based on age, race/ethnicity, education, and location) of 2085 women in the US and UK.
May 27, 2024 at 12:16 PM
9/n Our samples so far were also not very representative, making it hard to really know how commonly these beliefs are. So we recruited quasi-representative samples (based on age, race/ethnicity, education, and location) of 2085 women in the US and UK.
7/n There seem to be some interesting gender/sex and nationality differences.
May 27, 2024 at 12:15 PM
7/n There seem to be some interesting gender/sex and nationality differences.
6/n Four of these were related to inclusion (in the category feminist, category women etc): Support for sex work(ers), importance of marginalized perspectives, religious inclusion & trans inclusion. Interestingly, those had the largest SDs, suggesting that they are most divisive.
May 27, 2024 at 12:14 PM
6/n Four of these were related to inclusion (in the category feminist, category women etc): Support for sex work(ers), importance of marginalized perspectives, religious inclusion & trans inclusion. Interestingly, those had the largest SDs, suggesting that they are most divisive.
5/n In Study 2, we developed items based on these responses and gave those + established feminist beliefs scales (from Henley et al., 1998) to a group of 1008 self-identified feminists to see what beliefs “hang together” using EFA, resulting in 8 feminist beliefs scales.
May 27, 2024 at 12:14 PM
5/n In Study 2, we developed items based on these responses and gave those + established feminist beliefs scales (from Henley et al., 1998) to a group of 1008 self-identified feminists to see what beliefs “hang together” using EFA, resulting in 8 feminist beliefs scales.
4/n So we explored disagreements in today’s feminist movement in the UK & US. In Study 1, 293 self-identified feminists answered open-response questions about what topics feminists of today disagree on. Here are some common themes we found:
May 27, 2024 at 12:14 PM
4/n So we explored disagreements in today’s feminist movement in the UK & US. In Study 1, 293 self-identified feminists answered open-response questions about what topics feminists of today disagree on. Here are some common themes we found:
Y'all, I am SO freakin excited to share this paper! Rejected by 4 different journals but now finally out in Sex Roles: "Sex Wars and TERF Wars: The Divisiveness of Who is Included in Feminism" with @teriak.bsky.social, Miriam Zehnter & @shellkryan.bsky.social link.springer.com/article/10.1... 🧵
May 27, 2024 at 12:12 PM
Y'all, I am SO freakin excited to share this paper! Rejected by 4 different journals but now finally out in Sex Roles: "Sex Wars and TERF Wars: The Divisiveness of Who is Included in Feminism" with @teriak.bsky.social, Miriam Zehnter & @shellkryan.bsky.social link.springer.com/article/10.1... 🧵
3/n Spoiler: Across 4 studies (N=2159), the average correlation is r = .57. For other anti-trans arguments, these correlations are also positive, suggesting that the same people endorse both arguments.
May 23, 2024 at 11:50 AM
3/n Spoiler: Across 4 studies (N=2159), the average correlation is r = .57. For other anti-trans arguments, these correlations are also positive, suggesting that the same people endorse both arguments.