Kristina Reiss Olson is a psychologist and a professor at Princeton University in Princeton, NJ. She is known for her research on the development of social categories,

transgender youth Transgender youth are children or adolescents who do not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth. Because transgender youth are usually dependent on their parents for care, shelter, financial support, and other needs, transgender yo ...

, and variation in human gender development. Olson was recipient of the 2016 Janet Taylor Spence Award from the

Association for Psychological Science The Association for Psychological Science (APS), previously the American Psychological Society, is an international non-profit organization whose mission is to promote, protect, and advance the interests of scientifically oriented psychology in ...

for transformative early career contributions, and the 2014 SAGE Young Scholars Award. Olson received the

Alan T. Waterman Award The Alan T. Waterman Award, named after Alan Tower Waterman, is the United States's highest honorary award for scientists no older than 40, or no more than 10 years past receipt of their Ph.D. It is awarded on a yearly basis by the National Scienc ...

from the National Science Foundation in 2018, and was the first psychological scientist to receive this prestigious award honoring early-career scientists. Olson is a member of the 2018 cohort of MacArthur "Genius" fellows.

Biography

Kristina Olson received her B.A. in Psychology and African and African-American Studies from Washington University in 2003. She completed her PhD from Harvard University in 2008, where she worked with Elizabeth Spelke,

Mahzarin Banaji Mahzarin Rustum Banaji FBA (born 1956) is an American psychologist of Indian origin at Harvard University, known for her work popularizing the concept of implicit bias in regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, and other factors. Educati ...

, and

Carol S. Dweck Carol Susan Dweck (born October 17, 1946) is an American psychologist. She is the Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford University. Dweck is known for her work on motivation and mindset. She was on the faculty at Columbia ...

. After graduating from Harvard, Olson joined the faculty of Yale University. In 2013, she subsequently moved to the Department of Psychology at the University of Washington where she directs the Social Cognitive Development Lab. Olson's research has been funded through the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Arcus Foundation. In 2020, Olson joined Princeton University to lead the Human Diversity Lab as a professor in the department of Psychology.

TransYouth Project

Olson directs The TransYouth Project, which is the largest-to-date

longitudinal research A longitudinal study (or longitudinal survey, or panel study) is a research design that involves repeated observations of the same variables (e.g., people) over short or long periods of time (i.e., uses longitudinal data). It is often a type of obs ...

study of transgender children, with over 300 children enrolled from across the United States and Canada. The children in the study group underwent social transition between the ages of 3 to 12, with an average of 6.5 years old. The TransYouth Project "aims to help scientists, educators, parents, and children better understand the varieties of human gender development." Recent findings from this project indicate that transgender children are not confused, delayed, pretending, or oppositional with regards to their gender identity. On tasks, such as the

Implicit Association Test The implicit-association test (IAT) is a controversial assessment intended to detect subconscious associations between mental representations of objects (concepts) in memory. Its best-known application is the assessment of implicit stereotypes held ...

(IAT), which measure social knowledge, attitudes, and stereotypes about gender, transgender children respond similarly to "typical" cisgender children who match their gender identity (i.e., their expressed gender). Such findings suggest that the gender identity of transgender children is stable and deeply held. In research examining mental health outcomes, Olson and colleagues have observed typical rates of depression and only marginally elevated rates of anxiety in transgender children when compared to control groups of children. Such findings contrast with reports of poor mental health outcomes among transgender adults, who frequently experience discrimination and marginalization. In interviews, Olson has emphasized the importance of supportive parents and families in helping transgender youth feel accepted, safe, and secure, especially as they transition through adolescence to adulthood.

Representative publications

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References

External links

Faculty Home pageHuman Diversity LabKristina Olson Social Psychology Network
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Olson, Kristina 21st-century American psychologists American women psychologists University of Washington faculty Princeton University faculty Washington University in St. Louis alumni Harvard University alumni Living people MacArthur Fellows Year of birth missing (living people)