Beatrice Blyth Whiting
Beatrice Blyth Whiting (born April 14, 1914 in New York City , New York , † September 29, 2003 in Cambridge , Massachusetts ) was an American anthropologist and psychologist at Harvard University .
Live and act
Whiting grew up on Staten Island . She graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 1935 before studying anthropology at Yale University . In 1943 she earned a Ph.D. in anthropology with the work Paiute Sorcery: A Study of Social Control . She initially taught at Brandeis University while doing research at Wellesley College .
1952 Whiting received a first professorship at Harvard University , 1973 a full professorship in education . She retired in 1980, but held a research position at the Henry A. Murray Center for the Study of Lives at Radcliffe College until 1985 , while she co- directed the Comparative Adolescence Project with her husband, John WM Whiting , and Irven DeVore .
Whiting is regarded as a pioneer in psychological anthropology and was a pioneer in comparative studies in child psychology ( cross-cultural psychology ). She examined activities, relationships and learning among children and women in different cultures, particularly in developing countries . She devised a lifelike approach to observing child behavior that had far-reaching influence on child psychological research. Whiting methodically combined the anthropological knowledge of a group with the systematic psychological approach to behavior and development. In addition, she dealt with the changing living conditions of women worldwide and the development of the children of these women.
Beatrice Whiting was married for more than 60 years to the anthropologist John Wesley Mayhew Whiting (1908–1999), with whom she also maintained a long-lasting academic collaboration. The couple had two children.
Fonts (selection)
- Paiute Sorcery: A Study of Social Control (1950)
- With Carolyn P. Edwards: Children of Different Worlds: The Formation of Social Behavior (1988)
- With Carolyn P. Edwards: Ngecha: A Kenyan Village in a Time of Rapid Social Change (2006)
Awards (selection)
- 1981 member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- 1982 Distinguished Service Award from the American Anthropological Association (together with John WM Whiting)
- 1989 Career Contribution Award from the Society for Psychological Anthropology
The Society for Cross-Cultural Research (SCCR) presents a John & Beatrice Whiting Award for Student in Cross-Cultural Studies . There was a Beatrice Whiting Professorship at Harvard University, held by Carol Hirschon Weiss .
Web links
- Beatrice Blyth Whiting, anthropologist, dies at 89. In: Harvard University Gazette. ( Memento from August 9, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
- Bea Whiting, 89, An Eminent Anthropologist. In: Vineyard Gazette , October 9, 2003.
- Beatrice Whiting, 89, to Expert On Culture's Role in Personality. In: The New York Times , October 19, 2003.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Book of Members 1780 – present (PDF, 738 kB) at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (amacad.org); accessed on February 14, 2017.
- ^ Society for Cross-Cultural Research: Awards. In: sccr.org. Retrieved August 28, 2018 .
- ↑ CAROL (HIRSCHON) WEISS's Obituary on Boston Globe. In: legacy.com. Retrieved February 14, 2017 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Whiting, Beatrice Blyth |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Whiting, Beatrice; Whiting, Beatrice B. |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American anthropologist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 14, 1914 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | New York City , New York |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 29, 2003 |
| Place of death | Cambridge , Massachusetts |