Joseph Berger (sociologist)

Joseph Berger
Born(1924-04-03)April 3, 1924
DiedDecember 24, 2023(2023-12-24) (aged 99)
SpouseMargeret Berger
Academic background
Alma mater
Academic work
DisciplineSociology
InstitutionsStanford University
Notable ideasExpectation states theory

Joseph Berger (April 3, 1924 – December 24, 2023) was an American sociologist and social psychologist best known for co-founding expectation states theory.[1] Expectation states theory explains how individuals use social information about one another (such as race, gender, or specific skills) to create informal status hierarchies in small groups. Researchers have used this program to develop interventions that counteract the disadvantages faced most notably by black students in the classroom[2] and women leaders in the workplace.[3] Social scientists have also applied this work to study hiring bias against mothers[4] and discrimination against loan applicants[5] among other topics.[6]

Berger used expectation states theory as an exemplar of formal (or axiomatic) theory construction, for whose wider adoption among sociologists he advocated. Formal theories are logically related sets of statements from which a scientist can logically deduce hypotheses (e.g., if A → B and B → C, then A → C). Formal theorists then lay out the precise conditions under which their predictions do and do not apply. This contrasts with the norm in sociological theorizing, which is less explicit in its definitions, predictions, and scope.[7]

Berger was later a professor emeritus at Stanford University and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution.

  1. ^ Stanford University News Service. "Joseph Berger wins Cooley-Mead Award for distinguished contributions to social psychology". Stanford News Service. Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. ^ Cohen, Elizabeth G.; Lotan, Rachel A. (1995). "Producing Equal-Status Interaction in the Heterogeneous Classroom". American Educational Research Journal. 32 (1): 99–120. doi:10.3102/00028312032001099. JSTOR 1163215. S2CID 96477955.
  3. ^ Lucas, Jeffrey W. (2003). "Status Processes and the Institutionalization of Women as Leaders". American Sociological Review. 68 (3): 464–480. doi:10.2307/1519733. JSTOR 1519733.
  4. ^ Correll, Shelley J.; Benard, Stephen; Paik, In (2007). "Getting a Job: Is There a Motherhood Penalty?". American Journal of Sociology. 112 (2): 1297–1338. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.417.6347. doi:10.1086/511799. S2CID 7816230.
  5. ^ Harkness, Sarah K. (2016). "Discrimination in Lending Markets: Status and the Intersections of Gender and Race". Social Psychology Quarterly. 79 (1): 81–93. doi:10.1177/0190272515623459. S2CID 146460967.
  6. ^ Armstrong, Alice Catt, ed. (1979). Who's who in California - Volume 12. Who's Who Historical Society. p. 34.
  7. ^ Wagner, David G.; Berger, Joseph (1985). "Do Sociological Theories Grow". American Journal of Sociology. 90 (4): 697–728. doi:10.1086/228142. JSTOR 2779516. S2CID 144409480.