Name Thelma Alper | ||
Thelma Gorfinkle Alper (July 24, 1908 - July 30, 1988) was an American clinical psychologist.
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Education
Alper was born to a Jewish family and received her B.A. and M.A. from Wellesley College in 1929 and 1933 respectively. In 1943, she became the eleventh woman, and first Jewish woman, to receive a Ph.D from Harvard.
Career
She began her work at Harvard as a tutor and instructor. She was told she would never be offered tenure because she was a woman, and in 1948, she resigned from Harvard. She then became an associate professor at Clark University, but due to an ill family member, she left that position as well and accepted a position at Wellesley College.
Legacy
Alper created a measure to study achievement motivation in women.
Awards
She served as President of the Massachusetts Psychological Association and two chapters of Phi Beta Kappa.
Studies
In one study, titled, "Sex Differences in Intimacy Motivation", she found that there were significant differences between the sexes regarding "Intimate Imagery".