Richard A. Lippa, Ph.D.

Professor
Department of Psychology

Teaching interests: introductory psychology, social psychology, psychology of gender

Research interests: Gender, sex differences, the measurement of masculinity and femininity; Gender, masculinity, and femininity in relation to the following topics: interests, personality, sexuality (e.g., sexual orientation, sex drive, sociosexuality), mate preferences, social perception, cognitive abilities

Brief biography: As National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow, I received my Ph.D. in Psychology from Stanford University.  My B.A. was awared magnum cum laude with a double major in Mathematics and Psychology.  I have published many research papers on gender, masculinity, and femininity, and I am the author of the 2005 book, "Gender, Nature, and Nurture."  My research focuses on gender, masculinity, femininity, and their relation to other traits and behaviors, including interests, personality, sexuality, mate preferences, and cognitive abilities.  I have also conducted recent research on biological markers (e.g., finger-length ratios, handedness, hair whorl patterns) that are related to gender and sexual orientation.  In 2005 I served as a research consultant to the BBC documentary, "Secrets of the Sexes."  As part of this project I assisted the BBC in developing an Internet survey on gender differences, which collected data from over 200,000 people worldwide.  I and other researchers have been analyzing these data, and in 2007 I served as the guest editor of a special section of the "Archives of Sexual Behavior" devoted to papers based on the BBC data.  I continue to analyze this rich data set and write up the results for publication.  My recent research has received much press coverage, with stories appearing in various media outlets, including the BBC Science and Nature Website, CNN Online, MSNBC, New York Magazine, the New York Times, and the Orange County Register.