Faculty Sponsor: Jill Morawski
Emma Blakeley
Emma Blakeley is a rising junior (’28). She is majoring in Psychology and FGSS with a minor in Data Analysis. While at Wesleyan, Emma is on the club water polo team and the crochet club, and is part of psychology labs on campus. With a particular interest in psychology and gender studies, she hopes to continue research at the intersection of these fields in the coming years..
Abstract: Overtime psychological language has become increasingly common in everyday descriptions of the self, others, and interpersonal relationships. This trend reflects the psychologization of everyday life and can change how people define themselves and relationships with other (De Vos, 2012; Haslam, 2016).
Although the rise of psychological language has been welle xplored, few studies have examined how these changes affect affected everyday problems, social norms, and relationship expectations. Advice columns provide an especially rich record of these shifts by recording and revealing often unspoken social norms, private concerns, and relationship expectations. Advice columns also create a unique window into everyday gender norms since their origin in 18th-century women’s magazines. Women are often the advice seekers and advice givers. The advice given usually positions women as responsible for others’ emotional states and maintaining relationships. Using Dear Abby advice columns, this study addresses two questions: (1) How has the use of psychological language in Dear Abby advice columns changed from 1964 to 2026? and (2) How has responsibility for resolving interpersonal problems been assigned across time?
This study demonstrates that over time the use of psychological language has increased significantly. This reflects a shift in how people understand themselves, their relationships, and problems. (Illouz, 2008; Pettit, 2020; Rimke, 2000). The responsibilities of women have changed over time and reflect shifts in feminism over time; however, much continues to remain disproportionately the responsibility of women. In fact, my results demonstrate little difference in responsibilities assigned between the 1960’s and today.
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