Ravenna Helson Explained

Ravenna Helson
Birth Name:Ravenna Mathews
Birth Date:13 February 1925
Birth Place:Austin, Texas
Death Date:2020
Nationality:American
Fields:Psychology
Workplaces:Institute of Personality Assessment and Research
University of California, Berkeley
Alma Mater:University of Texas at Austin
University of California, Berkeley
Thesis Title:Recall of Items as a Function of the Number of Categories Into which They Have Been Classified
Thesis Url:https://books.google.com/books?id=MWJIAQAAMAAJ
Thesis Year:1952
Doctoral Advisors:Leo Postman
Warner Brown
Notable Students:Brent Roberts
Known For:Creativity
Psychology of women
Awards:2017 Society for Personality and Social Psychology Annual Convention Legacy honoree
Partners:)-->
Children:3

Ravenna Mathews Helson (February 13, 1925–2020) was an American psychologist known for her research on the psychology of women and creativity.[1] Dacher Keltner has described her as "a pioneer in the study of women's lives".[2]

Career

Helson completed her PhD in psychology at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) in 1952.[3] She joined the faculty of psychology at Smith College, but moved with her husband, mathematician Henry Helson, back to California in 1955 when he was offered a faculty position at UC Berkeley.[4] Helson began working at the Institute of Personality Assessment and Research (IPAR) in 1957, when she accepted an invitation from director Donald W. MacKinnon to join the institute. She was promoted to the position of full-status researcher at IPAR in 1980, and became an adjunct professor of psychology at UC Berkeley the same year.[5]

Helson was a key figure in organizing and conducting the Mills Longitudinal Study,[6] [7] a long-term study of personality development over the lifespan. The study involved more than 100 Mills College senior undergraduates (born 1937–1939), who were recruited in 1958–1959, and continues to the present day. The main purpose of the study was to examine personality in relation to creativity in women. Over the years, the study expanded to address varied topics including changes in personality over the lifespan[8] [9] and in relation to women's work lives,[10] marital satisfaction after child rearing,[11] [12] and the impact of culture on individualism.[13]

Helson is an adjunct professor emeritus of psychology at UC Berkeley.[14]

Personal life

Helson was born in Austin, Texas to E. J. Mathews, Registrar and Dean of Admissions at the University of Texas and Ravenna Wakefield Mathews. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Texas and briefly worked as a newspaper reporter in Corpus Christi, Texas before returning to school to study psychology.[15]

Helson married Henry Helson in 1954. The couple had three children and remained married until Henry's death in 2010.[16] She died in 2020.[17]

Representative works

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Women in Psychology: A Bio-bibliographic Sourcebook . O'Connell . Agnes N. . Russo . Nancy Felipe . 1990 . Greenwood Publishing Group . 9780313260919 . 151 . en.
  2. Book: Keltner, Dacher . Born to be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life . registration . 2009 . W. W. Norton & Company . 9780393065121 . 113 . en.
  3. Web site: Ravenna M. Helson Society for Personality and Social Psychology . 2023-03-08 . spsp.org.
  4. Book: Emre, Merve. The personality brokers : the strange history of Myers-Briggs and the birth of personality testing. 978-0-385-54190-9. First. New York. 1042077169. 2018.
  5. Web site: Ravenna Helson . Davidson . Tal . Psychology's Feminist Voices . en . 2018-02-22.
  6. Web site: Mills Longitudinal Study. millslab.berkeley.edu. 2019-12-27.
  7. Web site: Is Your Personality Plastic Or Set In Plaster? The Seattle Times. archive.seattletimes.com. 2019-12-27.
  8. News: If you're not feeling like yourself, researchers wouldn't be shocked. Boodman. Sandra G.. 2002-09-22. Chicago Tribune. 2018-02-22. en.
  9. Helson. Ravenna. Jones. Constance. Kwan. Virginia S. Y.. 2002. Personality change over 40 years of adulthood: Hierarchical linear modeling analyses of two longitudinal samples.. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. en. 83. 3. 752–766. 10.1037/0022-3514.83.3.752. 12219867. 1939-1315.
  10. George. Linda G.. Helson. Ravenna. John. Oliver P.. 2011. The "CEO" of women's work lives: How Big Five Conscientiousness, Extraversion, and Openness predict 50 years of work experiences in a changing sociocultural context.. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 101. 4. 812–830. 10.1037/a0024290. 21859225. 1939-1315.
  11. Web site: Study: Marital happiness increases after kids grow up and leave. Chronicle. The San Francisco. 2008-12-04. The Denver Post. en-US. 2019-12-27.
  12. Gorchoff. Sara M.. John. Oliver P.. Helson. Ravenna. 2008. Contextualizing Change in Marital Satisfaction During Middle Age. Psychological Science. en-US. 19. 11. 1194–1200. 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02222.x. 19076493. 12690080. 0956-7976.
  13. Roberts. Brent W.. Helson. Ravenna. 1997. Changes in culture, changes in personality: The influence of individualism in a longitudinal study of women.. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. en. 72. 3. 641–651. 10.1037/0022-3514.72.3.641. 9120788. 1939-1315.
  14. Web site: Ravenna M. Helson . UC Psych . en . 2018-02-22.
  15. Helson. Ravenna. 2008-04-17. One Surprise After Another. Journal of Personality Assessment. 90. 3. 205–214. 10.1080/00223890701884780. 0022-3891. 18444117. 41306980.
  16. Web site: Ravenna M. Helson . Foundation for Personality and Social Psychology . https://web.archive.org/web/20170419095044/http://www.foundationpsp.org/helson.php . 2017-04-19 . 2018-02-22.
  17. Mitchell . Valory . January 2022 . Ravenna M. Helson (1925–2020). . American Psychologist . en . 77 . 1 . 148 . 10.1037/amp0000859 . 35357861 . 247855362 . 1935-990X.

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