Maria I T Olsson
Biographic Data
| ID | 4395502 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Maria I T Olsson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Maria I T |
| FAMILY NAME | Olsson |
| SIGNATURE | OLSSON M I T |
| AFFILIATIONS | UiT The Arctic University of Norway |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1765-6909 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 11 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 31 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 11 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2017 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
The ambivalence of male role modeling in Norwegian kindergartens
“I have never done that before, so I will probably succeed”: Higher education students' self-efficacy after the Covid-19 pandemic
Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of traditional exams for Norwegian upper secondary schools, resulting in the “COVID-19 cohort” graduating with little or no exam experience. This study explores how this impacted their self-efficacy upon entering higher education. Guided by Bandura's social cognitive theory, it identifies mastery experiences, modeling behaviors, verbal persuasion, and physiological states as key predictor…
Did Descriptive and Prescriptive Norms About Gender Equality at Home Change During the Covid-19 Pandemic? A Cross-National Investigation
Using data from 15 countries, this article investigates whether descriptive and prescriptive gender norms concerning housework and child care (domestic work) changed after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results of a total of 8,343 participants ( M = 19.95, SD = 1.68) from two comparable student samples suggest that descriptive norms about unpaid domestic work have been affected by the pandemic, with individuals seeing mothers’ relative to fa…
The gender gap in the care economy is larger in highly developed countries: Sociocultural explanations for paradoxical findings
Despite the growing demand for care economy employees (e.g., nurses, teachers, and social workers), men remain underrepresented in these careers. While economically developed countries support more equal rights for women and men, their labor markets are highly gender segregated (Charles, 1992, 2003). We conducted a focused investigation of this paradoxical pattern in the care economy, testing whether gender gaps in care economy career interest ar…
Gender Gap in Parental Leave Intentions: Evidence from 37 Countries
Despite global commitments and efforts, a gender‐based division of paid and unpaid work persists. To identify how psychological factors, national policies, and the broader sociocultural context contribute to this inequality, we assessed parental‐leave intentions in young adults (18–30 years old) planning to have children (N = 13,942; 8,880 identified as women; 5,062 identified as men) across 37 countries that varied in parental‐leave policies and…
What do I want to be? Predictors of communal occupational aspirations in early to middle childhood
Research investigating occupational aspirations in childhood is scarce. In addition, most research on occupational aspirations has focused on increasing the number of women in agentic jobs. In the present work, we investigate factors associated with communal occupational aspirations in two studies with young children (Study 1: 159 children [84 boys, 75 girls], M age = 5.51 years, SD = 0.37; Study 2: 96 children [48 boys, 48 girls]; M age = 9.44 y…
Does she compensate the victim while he punishes the perpetrator? No gender differences in anonymous economic games across 11 nations
Social role theory posits that occupational gender roles give rise to gender differences in behavior, such that men and women engage in qualitatively different prosocial behaviors. Therefore, we expected that women who observed an unfair situation (involving a victim and a perpetrator) would respond by demonstrating communal prosocial behavior (by compensating the victim), whereas men would respond with agentic prosocial behavior (by punishing th…
Does religion matter? Italians’ responses towards Muslim and Christian Arab immigrants as a function of their acculturation preferences
Gender at Work Across Nations: Men and Women Working in Male‐Dominated and Female‐Dominated Occupations are Differentially Associated with Agency and Communion
Occupational gender segregation is a worldwide phenomenon. Research from Western regions such as the United States and Europe shows that the observation of occupational gender segregation can perpetuate gender stereotypes (social role theory; men are ascribed agentic traits, whereas women are ascribed communal traits). However, predictions from social role theory have not been well‐tested in non‐Western nations. In a study with 1,918 participants…
Does Exposure to Counterstereotypical Role Models Influence Girls’ and Women’s Gender Stereotypes and Career Choices? A Review of Social Psychological Research
Gender roles are formed in early childhood and continue to influence behavior through adolescence and adulthood, including the choice of academic majors and careers. In many countries, men are underrepresented in communal roles in health care, elementary education, and domestic functions (HEED fields, Croft et al., 2015), whereas women are underrepresented in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematical (STEM) fields (Beede et al., 2011…
The double-edged effect of intergroup similarity: Muslim and Christian immigrants’ acculturation preferences on intergroup relations in Sweden
A 2 x 2 x 2 experiment examined effects of the acculturation orientations seen to be endorsed by immigrants (of two different religions) on intergroup relations in Sweden. Swedish majority participants ( N = 448) read interviews with Iraqi immigrants in which the immigrants’ religion (Muslim vs. Christian), desired level of contact with the host society (high vs. low), and desire to maintain their own culture (high vs. low) were manipulated. Over…
Gender at Work Across Nations: Men and Women Working in Male‐Dominated and Female‐Dominated Occupations are Differentially Associated with Agency and Communion
Occupational gender segregation is a worldwide phenomenon. Research from Western regions such as the United States and Europe shows that the observation of occupational gender segregation can perpetuate gender stereotypes (social role theory; men are ascribed agentic traits, whereas women are ascribed communal traits). However, predictions from social role theory have not been well‐tested in non‐Western nations. In a study with 1,918 participants…
Does religion matter? Italians’ responses towards Muslim and Christian Arab immigrants as a function of their acculturation preferences
The double-edged effect of intergroup similarity: Muslim and Christian immigrants’ acculturation preferences on intergroup relations in Sweden
A 2 x 2 x 2 experiment examined effects of the acculturation orientations seen to be endorsed by immigrants (of two different religions) on intergroup relations in Sweden. Swedish majority participants ( N = 448) read interviews with Iraqi immigrants in which the immigrants’ religion (Muslim vs. Christian), desired level of contact with the host society (high vs. low), and desire to maintain their own culture (high vs. low) were manipulated. Over…
Gender Gap in Parental Leave Intentions: Evidence from 37 Countries
Despite global commitments and efforts, a gender‐based division of paid and unpaid work persists. To identify how psychological factors, national policies, and the broader sociocultural context contribute to this inequality, we assessed parental‐leave intentions in young adults (18–30 years old) planning to have children (N = 13,942; 8,880 identified as women; 5,062 identified as men) across 37 countries that varied in parental‐leave policies and…
Does she compensate the victim while he punishes the perpetrator? No gender differences in anonymous economic games across 11 nations
Social role theory posits that occupational gender roles give rise to gender differences in behavior, such that men and women engage in qualitatively different prosocial behaviors. Therefore, we expected that women who observed an unfair situation (involving a victim and a perpetrator) would respond by demonstrating communal prosocial behavior (by compensating the victim), whereas men would respond with agentic prosocial behavior (by punishing th…
The double-edged effect of intergroup similarity: Muslim and Christian immigrants’ acculturation preferences on intergroup relations in Sweden
A 2 x 2 x 2 experiment examined effects of the acculturation orientations seen to be endorsed by immigrants (of two different religions) on intergroup relations in Sweden. Swedish majority participants ( N = 448) read interviews with Iraqi immigrants in which the immigrants’ religion (Muslim vs. Christian), desired level of contact with the host society (high vs. low), and desire to maintain their own culture (high vs. low) were manipulated. Over…
Does Exposure to Counterstereotypical Role Models Influence Girls’ and Women’s Gender Stereotypes and Career Choices? A Review of Social Psychological Research
Gender roles are formed in early childhood and continue to influence behavior through adolescence and adulthood, including the choice of academic majors and careers. In many countries, men are underrepresented in communal roles in health care, elementary education, and domestic functions (HEED fields, Croft et al., 2015), whereas women are underrepresented in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematical (STEM) fields (Beede et al., 2011…
Does she compensate the victim while he punishes the perpetrator? No gender differences in anonymous economic games across 11 nations
Social role theory posits that occupational gender roles give rise to gender differences in behavior, such that men and women engage in qualitatively different prosocial behaviors. Therefore, we expected that women who observed an unfair situation (involving a victim and a perpetrator) would respond by demonstrating communal prosocial behavior (by compensating the victim), whereas men would respond with agentic prosocial behavior (by punishing th…
Does religion matter? Italians’ responses towards Muslim and Christian Arab immigrants as a function of their acculturation preferences
Gender at Work Across Nations: Men and Women Working in Male‐Dominated and Female‐Dominated Occupations are Differentially Associated with Agency and Communion
Occupational gender segregation is a worldwide phenomenon. Research from Western regions such as the United States and Europe shows that the observation of occupational gender segregation can perpetuate gender stereotypes (social role theory; men are ascribed agentic traits, whereas women are ascribed communal traits). However, predictions from social role theory have not been well‐tested in non‐Western nations. In a study with 1,918 participants…
What do I want to be? Predictors of communal occupational aspirations in early to middle childhood
Research investigating occupational aspirations in childhood is scarce. In addition, most research on occupational aspirations has focused on increasing the number of women in agentic jobs. In the present work, we investigate factors associated with communal occupational aspirations in two studies with young children (Study 1: 159 children [84 boys, 75 girls], M age = 5.51 years, SD = 0.37; Study 2: 96 children [48 boys, 48 girls]; M age = 9.44 y…
Gender Gap in Parental Leave Intentions: Evidence from 37 Countries
Despite global commitments and efforts, a gender‐based division of paid and unpaid work persists. To identify how psychological factors, national policies, and the broader sociocultural context contribute to this inequality, we assessed parental‐leave intentions in young adults (18–30 years old) planning to have children (N = 13,942; 8,880 identified as women; 5,062 identified as men) across 37 countries that varied in parental‐leave policies and…
“I have never done that before, so I will probably succeed”: Higher education students' self-efficacy after the Covid-19 pandemic
Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of traditional exams for Norwegian upper secondary schools, resulting in the “COVID-19 cohort” graduating with little or no exam experience. This study explores how this impacted their self-efficacy upon entering higher education. Guided by Bandura's social cognitive theory, it identifies mastery experiences, modeling behaviors, verbal persuasion, and physiological states as key predictor…
Did Descriptive and Prescriptive Norms About Gender Equality at Home Change During the Covid-19 Pandemic? A Cross-National Investigation
Using data from 15 countries, this article investigates whether descriptive and prescriptive gender norms concerning housework and child care (domestic work) changed after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results of a total of 8,343 participants ( M = 19.95, SD = 1.68) from two comparable student samples suggest that descriptive norms about unpaid domestic work have been affected by the pandemic, with individuals seeing mothers’ relative to fa…
The gender gap in the care economy is larger in highly developed countries: Sociocultural explanations for paradoxical findings
Despite the growing demand for care economy employees (e.g., nurses, teachers, and social workers), men remain underrepresented in these careers. While economically developed countries support more equal rights for women and men, their labor markets are highly gender segregated (Charles, 1992, 2003). We conducted a focused investigation of this paradoxical pattern in the care economy, testing whether gender gaps in care economy career interest ar…
The ambivalence of male role modeling in Norwegian kindergartens
Psychology (9 works) · Social Psychology (7 works) · Sociology (6 works) · Gender Roles and Identity Studies (4 works) · Gender Studies (4 works) · Political science (4 works) · Social and Intergroup Psychology (4 works) · Social Psychology (4 works) · Demographic economics (3 works) · Developmental psychology (3 works)