Margaret Mead
/ˌmɑːɡrət ˈmiːd/
/ˌmɑːrɡrət ˈmiːd/
- (1901-78) a US anthropologist (= person who studies the human race). She studied how children grow up in different cultures, especially in the Pacific islands, and argued that human behaviour is strongly affected by society. Some people criticized her research, but she made anthropology very popular. Her books included Coming of Age in Samoa (1928), Growing Up in New Guinea (1930), Male and Female (1949) and Culture and Commitment (1970).