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Maria Ingrid Teresa Olsson

Associate Professor

Associate Professor in Social Psychology

Email: maria.olsson@inn.no
Phone number: +47 62 43 00 82
Mobile number: +47 92 20 18 84

Inland School of Business and Social Sciences
Department of Psychology
Campus Lillehammer

Short description

Dr. Maria Olsson

I am an Associate Professor in Social Psychology at Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences since 2021. I am a full member of the European Association of Social Psychology (EASP) and an editorial board member at Frontiers in Social Psychology (Gender and Sexuality).

Curriculum Vitae

My research seeks to understand causes and consequences of social inequality. For example:

1. How do cultural, political, and social psychological processes contribute to inequalities in the labor market, and how we can intervene to reduce those inequalities?

2. How and when do counter stereotypical role models inspire behavioural change in children and young adults?

3. What are the stereotypes at the intersection of social identities (e.g., social class, gender, ethnicity, and religion), and how do these beliefs influence behaviour?

If you are interested in studying for a PhD or collaborating with me on these topics, please get in touch, I'd be happy to hear from you.

Biography

B.Sc. in Psychology (1^st Class Honors) at the University of Sussex, 2014.

M.Sc. in Applied Social Psychology (1^st Class Honors) at the University of Sussex, 2014.

Ph.D. in Social Psychology (UiT The Arctic University of Norway), 2021.

Teaching

- Social Psychology – Convenor and Lecturer (PSY1008)

- Research Methods II – Convenor (PSY2203)

My drop-in hours are held on Teams. You can book a 10 minute slot, or double up by booking two back-to-back, by clicking here.

I am the leader of the research group OASIS (organisasjon, arbeid og sosialpsykologi i samfunnet). We hold monthly meetings. Everyone is welcome to join.

Twitter: @MariaITOlsson

Projects

Research groups

OASIS research group

Saxler, Franziska Magdalena; Dorrough, Angela R.; Froehlich, Laura; Block, Katharina; Croft, Alyssa & Meeussen, Loes [Show all 43 contributors for this article] (2024). Did Descriptive and Prescriptive Norms About Gender Equality at Home Change During the COVID-19 Pandemic? A Cross-National Investigation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. ISSN 0146-1672. doi: 10.1177/01461672231219719.
Bjørnsen, Ragnhild Holmen; Myklebø, Sigrid; Olsson, Maria Ingrid Teresa & Tveita, Thale (2023). “There’s no place like campus”: Students’ need for social connectedness in a post-pandemic learning environment. Seminar.net - Media, technology and lifelong learning. ISSN 1504-4831. 19(2). doi: 10.7577/seminar.5506.
Olsson, Maria Ingrid Teresa; van Grootel, Sanne; Block, Katharina; Schuster, Carolin; Meeussen, Loes & Van Laar, Colette [Show all 137 contributors for this article] (2022). Gender Gap in Parental Leave Intentions: Evidence from 37 Countries. Political Psychology. ISSN 0162-895X. 44(6), p. 1163–1192. doi: 10.1111/pops.12880. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
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 societal gender equality. In all countries, women intended to take longer leave than men. National parental-leave policies and women’s political representation partially explained cross-national variations in the gender gap. Gender gaps in leave intentions were paradoxically larger in countries with more gender-egalitarian parental-leave policies (i.e., longer leave available to both fathers and mothers). Interestingly, this cross-national variation in the gender gap was driven by cross-national variations in women’s (rather than men’s) leave intentions. Financially generous leave and gender-egalitarian policies (linked to men’s higher uptake in prior research) were not associated with leave intentions in men. Rather, men’s leave intentions were related to their individual gender attitudes. Leave intentions were inversely related to career ambitions. The potential for existing policies to foster gender equality in paid and unpaid work is discussed.
Olsen, Marte; Olsson, Maria; Parks-Stamm, Elizabeth J.; Kvalø, Marie; Thorsteinsen, Kjærsti & Steffens, Melanie C. [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2022). What do I want to be? Predictors of communal occupational aspirations in early to middle childhood. International Journal of Behavioral Development. ISSN 0165-0254. doi: 10.1177/01650254221121842. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
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], Mage = 5.51 years, SD = 0.37; Study 2: 96 children [48 boys, 48 girls]; Mage = 9.44 years, SD = 1.91). We found gender differences in communal aspirations only among the older children. In both samples, as well as when combining the two samples, the stronger the communal occupational gender stereotypes children reported, the less boys (and the more girls) aspired toward communal occupations. In the combined sample, communal self-perceptions mediated the relationship between child gender and occupational aspirations. Finally, the perceived status of the occupations was positively associated with communal aspirations among older children.
Kvalø, Marie; Olsen, Marte; Thorsteinsen, Kjærsti; Olsson, Maria & Martiny, Sarah E. (2021). Does the Stereotypicality of Mothers’ Occupation Influence Children’s Communal Occupational Aspirations and Communal Orientation? Frontiers in Psychology. ISSN 1664-1078. 12, p. 1–14. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.730859. Full text in Research Archive
Olsson, Maria; Froehlich, Laura; Dorrough, Angela R. & Martiny, Sarah E. (2021). The hers and his of prosociality across 10 countries. British Journal of Social Psychology. ISSN 0144-6665. p. 1–20. doi: 10.1111/bjso.12454. Full text in Research Archive
Dorrough, Angela R.; Olsson, Maria; Froehlich, Laura; Gloeckner, Andreas & Martiny, Sarah E. (2020). Does she compensate the victim while he punishes the perpetrator? No gender differences in anonymous economic games across 11 nations. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making. ISSN 0894-3257. doi: 10.1002/bdm.2208. Full text in Research Archive
Froehlich, Laura; Olsson, Maria; Dorrough, Angela R. & Martiny, Sarah (2020). Gender at Work Across Nations: Men and Women Working in Male-Dominated and Female-Dominated Occupations are Differentially Associated with Agency and Communion. Journal of Social Issues (JSI). ISSN 0022-4537. 76(3), p. 484–511. doi: 10.1111/josi.12390. Full text in Research Archive
Matera, Camilla; Picchiarini, Anna; Olsson, Maria & Brown, Rupert (2020). Does Religion Matter? Italians' Responses towards Muslim and Christian Arab Immigrants as a function of their Acculturation Preferences. International Journal of Intercultural Relations. ISSN 0147-1767. doi: 10.1016/j.ijintrel.2019.12.002. Full text in Research Archive
Olsson, Maria & Martiny, Sarah E. (2018). Does exposure to counterstereotypical role models influence girls' and women's gender stereotypes and career choices? A review of social psychological research. Frontiers in Psychology. ISSN 1664-1078. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02264. Full text in Research Archive
Olsson, Maria; Camilla, Matera; Tip, Linda & Brown, Rupert (2017). The double-edged effect of intergroup similarity: Muslim and Christian immigrants’ acculturation preferences on intergroup relations in Sweden. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations. ISSN 1368-4302. 22(4), p. 478–493. doi: 10.1177/1368430217740432. Full text in Research Archive

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Bjørnsen, Ragnhild Holmen; Broch, Tuva Beyer; Thoresen, Wenche; Stryken Solberg, Ida-Sofie; Søderstrøm, Kerstin & Blom, Tine [Show all 11 contributors for this article] (2023). Lågen-bedraget. Klassekampen. ISSN 0805-3839.
Bjerke, Victora Helen Rustad; Myklebø, Sigrid; Olsson, Maria Ingrid Teresa; Tveita, Thale & Bjørnsen, Ragnhild Holmen (2023). Post pandemi-studentene tror faktisk at de duger. Og de er opptatt av mer enn bare karakterer. Khrono.no. ISSN 1894-8995.
Hanslien, Asmund; Ranglund, Ole Jørgen Stefferud & Olsson, Maria (2022). Bytt ut folk, eller jobb videre. [Newspaper]. GB.
Kvalø, Marie; Olsen, Marte; Thorsteinsen, Kjærsti; Olsson, Maria & Martiny, Sarah (2021). Does the Stereotypicality of Mothers’ Occupation Influence their Children’s Occupational Aspirations and Communal Orientation?
Olsson, Maria (2021). Mind the Gender Gap: Parental Leave Policies, Gender Equality, and Cultural Value Orientation on Parental Leave Intentions in 37 Countries.
Olsson, Maria (2021). Mind the Gender Gap: Parental Leave Policies and Gender Equality on Parental Leave Intentions in 37 Countries.
Olsson, Maria (2021). Mind the Gender Gap: Parental Leave Policies, Gender Equality, and Cultural Value Orientation on Parental Leave Intentions in 37 Countries.
Olsson, Maria (2021). Developmental roots of social stereotypes: introduction to main perspectives and methods.
Olsson, Maria (2021). Forskningsdagene: Krigen om sjukehus .
Olsson, Maria (2021). Pappaperm endrer ikke gjenstridige kjønnsroller. Kilden. Show summary
Fedrekvote og rekruttering av mannlige ansatte i barnehager utfordrer ikke kjønnsrollene hjemme eller i arbeidslivet, viser ny doktoravhandling.
Olsson, Maria (2020). The Hers and His of Prosocial Behavior.
Olsson, Maria (2020). Who Cares? A Cross-Country Investigation of the Gender Gap in Intended Uptake of Parental Leave.
Olsson, Maria & Martiny, Sarah E. (2019). How to promote gender equality in the labour market: insights from a review on role model interventions.
Olsson, Maria & Martiny, Sarah E. (2019). Who can be a kindergarten teacher? Women, men, or both? Gender stereotyping among Norwegian Kindergarten Children.
Olsson, Maria (2019). Who can be a kindergarten teacher? Men? Women? Or Both? Gender Stereotypes and Career Aspirations among Young Children in Norway .
Olsson, Maria (2019). Stereotypes at the intersection of gender and social class.
Olsson, Maria (2019). Gender roles in early childhood: Does exposure to counterstereotypical role models influence children’s behavior and career aspirations? .
Olsson, Maria (2019). How to measure gender stereotyping in young children.
Olsson, Maria (2018). Cross-cultural differences in men's engagement with communal roles.
Olsson, Maria (2018). Forskar Grand Prix regionsfinal.
Dundas, Karen Oda Hjorth; Hopmann, Kathrin Helen & Olsson, Maria (2018). Trodde Du? (I Nordnorsk debatt). Nordlys. ISSN 0805-5440.
Olsson, Maria (2017). Men in Communal Roles: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Men’s Engagement in Communal Roles in Norway, Canada and Germany .
Olsson, Maria (2017). The double-edged effect of intergroup similarity: Muslim and Christian immigrants’ acculturation preferences on intergroup relations in Sweden.
Olsson, Maria (2017). Men in Communal Roles.
Olsson, Maria (2017). The double-edged effect of intergroup similarity: Muslim and Christian immigrants’ acculturation preferences on intergroup relations in Sweden.
Olsson, Maria (2017). Hvor er de kvinnelige tallknuserne?

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Addresses

Postal Address

Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences
Postboks 400 Vestad
2418 Elverum
Norway