Social science research on trial: Use of sex stereotyping research in Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins

The first Supreme Court case to use psychological research on sex stereotyping was Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins. The case was decided in May 1989 and remanded to Judge Gerhard Gesell, who rendered his final decision in May 1990. In this case, a social psychological expert testified to the antecedent conditions, indicators, consequences, and remedies of stereotyping, on the basis of recent cognitive approaches to stereotyping. The testimony was cited in decisions reached in the trial and appeals courts, as well as in the Supreme Court’s review. The American Psychological Association filed an amicus curiae brief supporting the validity of the field of stereotyping and the general methods used by the expert. Such legal application provides further lessons for psychological research on stereotyping.