As a social psychologist, Crystal Hoyt brings a psychological perspective to the study and teaching of leadership. In her primary areas of research, she takes a social scientific approach to critically examining questions regarding the representation of women, minorities, and other individuals with devalued social identities in influential positions in politics, business, and science. To these ends, she studies both the experiences of and the perceptions of individuals with devalued social identities such as women in leadership. She also investigates questions at the interface of social identities (gender and race/ethnicity) and interest and perseverance in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math.
In other research she investigates the important role of belief systems in fundamental social issues including the obesity epidemic, ethical failures in leadership, intergroup discrimination, and wealth inequality. These social issues are complex and challenging and a scientific understanding of them can help ensure that relevant social policies and interventions are both informed and intentional.
Dr. Hoyt has received a number of grants and awards for both her teaching and research. She maintains an active experimental research program that involves mentoring undergraduate students in both joint and independent research projects.
Dr. Hoyt’s research appears in journals such as Psychological Science, Journal of Experimental and Social Psychology, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, and The Leadership Quarterly. She has published nearly 50 journal articles and book chapters and she has co-edited two books.
Outstanding Alumni Award, Psychology Department, Claremont, McKenna College, 2012
Goethals, A., & Hoyt, C. (Eds.). (2017). Women and leadership: History, theories, and case studies. Berkshire Publishing.
Forsyth, D. R., & Hoyt, C. L. (Eds.). (2010). For the greater good of all: Perspectives on individualism, society, and leadership. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Hoyt, C. L., Goethals, G. R., & Forsyth, D. R. (Eds.) (2008). Leadership and psychology, Vol.1 in J. Ciulla (Series Ed.) Leadership at the crossroads. Westport, CT: Praeger.
Hoyt, C. L., Moss, A. J., Burnette, J. L., Schieffelin, A., & Goethals, A. (in press). Wealth inequality and activism: Perceiving injustice galvanizes social change but perceptions depend on political ideologies. European Journal of Social Psychology.
Hoyt, C. L. & Simon, S. (2016). The role of social dominance orientation and patriotism in the evaluation of minority and female leaders. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 46, 518–528. DOI: 10.1111/jasp.12380
Hoyt, C. L., Burnette, J., Auster-Gussman. L., Blodorn, A., & Major, B. (2016). The obesity stigma asymmetry model: Indirect and divergent effects of blame and entity theorizing on anti-fat prejudice. Stigma and Health. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/sah0000026
Hoyt, C. L. & Murphy, S. (2016). Managing to clear the air: Stereotype threat, women, and leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 27(3), 387-399. doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2015.11.002
Hoyt, C. L. & Goldin, A. (2016). Political ideology and American intergroup discrimination: A patriotism perspective. The Journal of Social Psychology, 156(4), 369-381. DOI: 10.1080/00224545.2015.1106434
Hoyt, C .L., Burnette, J., & Auster-Gussman, L. (2014). "Obesity is a disease": Examining the self-regulatory impact of this public-health message. Psychological Science, 25, 997-1002.
Hoyt, C. L. (2013). Inspirational or self-deflating: The role of self-efficacy in elite role model effectiveness. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 4, 290-298.
Simon, S., & Hoyt, C. L. (2013). Exploring the effect of media images on women’s leadership self-perceptions and aspirations. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 16, 232-245.
Hoyt, C. L., Burnette, J., & Innella, A. (2012). I can do that: The impact of implicit theories on leadership role model effectiveness. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38, 257-268.
Hoyt, C. L. (2012). Gender bias in employment contexts: A closer examination of the role incongruity principle. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48, 86-96.
Hoyt, C. L., Simon, S., & Innella, A. (2011). Taking a turn toward the masculine: The impact of mortality salience on implicit leadership theories. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 33, 374-381.
Hoyt, C. & Simon, S. (2011). Female leader role models: Injurious or inspiring? Psychology of Women Quarterly, 35, 143-157.
Hoyt, C. L. & Price, T., & Emrick, A. (2010). Leadership and the more-important-than-average effect: Overestimation of group goals and the justification of unethical behavior. Leadership, 6(4), 391-407.
Hoyt, C., Johnson, S., Murphy, S., & Skinnell, K. (2010). The impact of blatant stereotype activation and group sex-composition on female leaders. Leadership Quarterly, 21, 716-732.
Hoyt, C. L. (2010). Women, men, and leadership: Exploring the gender gap at the top. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 4, 484-498.
Burnette, J., Pollack, J. & Hoyt, C. (2010). Individual differences in implicit theories of leadership ability and self-efficacy: Predicting responses to stereotype threat. Journal of Leadership Studies, 3, 46-56.
Hoyt, C., & Blascovich, J. (2010). The role of self-efficacy and stereotype activation on cardiovascular, behavioral and self-report responses in the leadership domain. Leadership Quarterly, 21, 89-103.
Hoyt, C. L., Simon, S., & Reid, L. (2009). Choosing the best (wo)man for the job: The effects of mortality salience, sex, and gender stereotypes on leader evaluations. Leadership Quarterly, 20, 233-246.
Simon, S., & Hoyt, C. (2008). Understanding the gender gap in support for a woman for president. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy (ASAP), 8, 157-181.
Hoyt, C. L., Aguilar, L., Kaiser, C., Blascovich, J., & Lee, K. (2007). The self-protective and undermining effects of attributional ambiguity. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43, 884-893.
Hoyt, C. L. & Blascovich, J. (2007). Leadership efficacy and women leaders’ responses to stereotype activation. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 10, 595-616.
Hoyt, C. L., & Goethals, A. (in press). Introduction. In G. Goethals, C. Hoyt, & K. Christensen (Eds.) Women and Leadership: History, Theories, and Case Studies. Berkshire Publishing.
Hoyt, C. L., & Simon, S. (in press). Social psychological approaches to women and leadership theory. In S. Madsen (Ed.) Handbook of Research on Gender and Leadership. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Burnette, J. L., Hoyt, C. L., & Orvidas, K. (in press). Mindsets of body weight. In C. Zedelius and J. Schooler (Eds.) Lay Theories. Springer.
Hoyt, C. (2015). Social identities and leadership: The case of gender. In G. Goethals, S. Alison, R. Kramer, & D. Messick’s Conceptions of Leadership: Enduring Ideas and Emerging Insights (pp. 71-91). New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
Hoyt, C. L., & Simon, S. (2015). Women and leadership. In P. Northouse’s Leadership: Theory and practice, 7th edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Hoyt, C. L. (2013). Leadership within virtual contexts. In Amichai-Hamburger, Y. (Ed.), The social net: Human behavior in cyberspace (2nd edition). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Hoyt, C. & Johnson, S. (2011). Gender and leadership development: A case of female leaders. In S. Murphy’s (Ed.) Building the Next Generation of Leaders (pp. 205-228). Jossey Bass.
Goethals, G. & Hoyt, C. (2011). What makes leadership necessary, possible, and effective: The psychological dimensions. In R. Riggio & M. Harvey (Eds.) Leadership Studies: The Dialogue of Disciplines (pp. 101-118). Edward Elgar.
Forsyth, D. R., & Hoyt, C. L. (2011). Perspectives on individualism, collectivism, and the greater good. In D. R. Forsyth & C. L. Hoyt (Eds.) For the Greater Good of All: Perspectives on Individualism, Society, and Leadership. Palgrave Macmillan.
At 2.6 million strong, Women's Marches crush expectations
Mon., Jan. 23, 2017
Surprising psychology can make the country healthier (Scientific American)
Tue., Jun. 10, 2014
Psychological consequences of calling obesity a disease (NPR)
Tue., Apr. 22, 2014
To be or not to be? Should obesity be a disease? (The Psych Report)
Sun., Mar. 23, 2014
Should obesity be a 'diseae'? (New York Times)
Tue., Feb. 25, 2014
Does labeling obesity as a disease backfire? (Psychology Today, U.S. News, Huffington Post and other outlets)
Thu., Jan. 30, 2014
Why women make better money managers
Fri., Jan. 17, 2014
In leadership, mindsets matter (The New York Times)
Thu., Nov. 7, 2013
New York Times highlights research by Crystal Hoyt and Stefanie Simon, '07
Mon., Aug. 12, 2013
Opinion: Todd Akin, Claire McCaskill and the catch-22 of the 'ladylike' leader (The Washington Post)
Tue., Oct. 9, 2012
Capitol Square plan to honor Va. women stirs debate (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Sun., Sep. 23, 2012
Professor's research on role models discussed in Psychology Today
Tue., Feb. 14, 2012
