Robin Sue Rosenberg (born 1959) is an American author and a clinical psychologist, certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology. She is best known for her research, writing and presentations about the psychology of superheroes[1] and the psychology of cosplay. She is also the co-author of textbooks on psychology. She also treats people with eating disorders and anxiety disorders through clinical hypnosis, and is a personal coach.[2]
Robin Sue Rosenberg | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1959 (age 64–65) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Clinical psychologist |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | New York University University of Maryland, College Park |
| Subject | Psychology |
Early life and education
editRosenberg was born in New York City, and attended Hunter College High School. She received her B.A. in 1980 from New York University and her Ph.D. in clinical psychology in 1987 from the University of Maryland, College Park. She has taught at Lesley University and Harvard University.
Career
editRosenberg has a clinical practice and a personal coaching practice in both San Francisco and Menlo Park, California. She is an adjunct clinical faculty member at the University of California, San Francisco; in 2013 she was president of the Santa Clara County Psychological Association[3] and currently serves on the Ethics Committee of the California Psychological Association.[4][5]
Rosenberg has also organized a number of events including panels at San Diego Comic-Con[6] (e.g., "Is the Joker a Psychopath? You Decide!" with Joker co-creator Jerry Robinson, actor Adam West, and executive producer Michael Uslan),[7] and she writes a blog for Psychology Today, Huffington Post, Psychablog, and for Heal Myself. She has also published various articles which explore the findings of scientific psychology through superheroes, including “Heroes on the Ball Field" in AOL News; and "The Hulk: Making a diagnosis" in the Boston Phoenix. She has also written more general articles about popular culture for the Financial Times and EverydayHealth.
Rosenberg and colleague Andrea Letamendi have done research on the psychology of cosplay, and have published articles about this in the journal Intensities and presented at the New York Comic Con in 2012 and Geek Girl Con in 2013.[8]
Rosenberg also writes about mental illness and culture. Her articles on this general topic include “There’s No Defense for Affluenza” and “Abnormal is the New Normal” in Slate and “Why Will Half of the U.S. Population Have a Diagnosable Mental Disorder?” in Psychology Today.
Research
editRosenberg's research includes work on the effects of virtual reality (with Jeremy Bailenson and the Virtual Human Interaction Lab at Stanford University),[9] on the effects of an outdoor adventure program for young adult cancer survivors (with Whitney Lange, Bradley Zebrack and others), the psychology of the adoption of new technologies (with Christopher Ireland), as well as the psychology of cosplay (with Andrea Letamendi).[8]
Works
editPopular culture
edit- Superhero Origins: What Makes Superheroes Tick and Why We Care (2013)
- What Is a Superhero (ed, with P. Coogan, 2013) [10]
- What's the Matter with Batman? (2012)[11]
- Psychology of Superheroes (ed., 2008)
- Psychology of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011, ed. with S. O'Neill)
Psychology textbooks
edit- Abnormal Psychology, 2e (2014)
- Introducing Psychology (2011)
- Abnormal Psychology (2010)
- Psychology in Context (2007)
- Fundamentals of Psychology in Context (2008)
- Psychology: The Brain, the Person, the World (2001, 2003)
- Fundamentals of Psychology: The Brain, the Person, the World (2002, 2004). (All of these texts were co-authored with S. M. Kosslyn.)
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Why are we so obsessed with superhero origin stories?: Here's a psychologist's take". Salon.com. 6 September 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
- ^ "Abnormal Psychology". Palgrave Macmillan. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
- ^ "Robin S Rosenberg, Ph.D." Santa Clara County Psychological Association. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
- ^ "Robin S. Rosenberg PhD Full Member (Locator Service Participant)". California Psychological Association. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
- ^ "Robin S. Rosenberg". Jimei University. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
- ^ "Comic Con on the Couch: Analyzing Superheroes". Pacific Standard. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
- ^ Holmes, Linda. "The Id, The Ego And The Superhero: What Makes Batman Tick?". NPR. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
- ^ a b "Investigating the 'Psychology of Cosplay'". The Daily Dot. 11 November 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
- ^ "Stanford experiment shows that virtual superpowers encourage real-world empathy". Stanford.edu. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
- ^ "Industry Professionals, Historians and Scholars Try to Answer, 'What is a Superhero?'". Pop Matters, J.C. Macek III 11 September 2013
- ^ "SXSW: Does Batman have a diagnosable mental disorder?". Toronto Star, Ben Rayner, Mon Mar 11 2013
External links
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