MA, University of Michigan, (1949) Eleanor Emmons Maccoby (May 15, 1917 – December 11, 2018) was an American psychologist who was most recognized for her research and scholarly contributions to the fields of gender studies and developmental psychology.
They were vegetarians, interested in eastern thought and religious doctrines which included reincarnation, astrology, and occult phenomena.
[4] Maccoby and Jacklin started to work on studies involving inequality between men and women.
[10] After completing her secondary education, Maccoby attended Reed College for two years, where she was exposed to behaviorist psychology.
The end of the World War II led to vast advancements in medical research as well as a new understanding of the importance of mental health and developmental psychology.
Eleanor E. Maccoby started her career in child development after World War II ended by working in Boston before completing her PhD at the University of Michigan.
B.F. Skinner offered to let Maccoby use his automated data recording equipment in his laboratory at Harvard University.
[citation needed] Completing her dissertation at Harvard University opened many career and research opportunities for Maccoby.
[11] Maccoby took on the role of managing the portion of the study that involved interviewing the mothers concerning their child-rearing practices; many believe this is where she realized her interest in sex differences, parental responsibilities, and child development.
[12] At Harvard, she taught child psychology and published her research in areas such as social behavior in infants and child-rearing.
Although unknown to most people, both Eleanor and her husband, Nathan were offered positions in the psychology department at Stanford University.
Eleanor Maccoby was excited about her offer and had the chance to be able to split her time between teaching and balancing the three new children that she and her husband had adopted.
In 1980, Maccoby began a large-scale longitudinal study evaluating parent-child relationships before, during, and after parental divorce; since 1980, Maccoby has published her book, The Two Sexes, in 1998 and has continued working towards increasing the knowledge and understanding of child development and sex differences.
Eleanor had begun to feel as if her gender was impacting her ability to excel at Harvard which had then turned her to taking the position at Stanford University.
This project quickly became a topic for debate due to the psychological literature that was being used on the differences between women and men.
The message that Maccoby and Jacklin had been trying to convey became well known and as feminist scholars during the time were extremely concerned with the evidence of the similarities men and women have.
The finished book known as, The Psychology of Sex Differences is now considered to be a classic piece and had been cited more than five thousand times.
[citation needed] During the 1990s, Eleanor Maccoby had begun to center her focus and research on the impact that divorce has on children.