Mollie A. Ruben

  • Associate Professor, Director of Undergraduate Program
  • Department of Psychology; Behavioral Science
  • Phone: 401.874.4560
  • Email: mollie.ruben@uri.edu
  • Office Location: Social Science Research Center, 130 Flagg Road
    #122
  • Website
  • Accepting Students: Yes

Biography

Note: Dr. Ruben will accept new doctoral students for the 2027-2028 academic year.

My research interests involve social perception and the contribution of nonverbal behaviors to both how we perceive others and how we behave as the ones being perceived. I have two complementary lines of research, one in basic social psychological research examining social perception or the ability to accurately perceive another person’s states (e.g., physical pain, emotions/affect), traits (e.g., personality), and characteristics (hireability, sexual orientation) and a second line of research in health services and health psychology applying social psychological methods to the analysis of doctor-patient communication and health disparities especially among LGBTQ patients and veterans. 

Education

  • 2014-2016  Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research (CHOIR), US Department of Veterans Affairs, Jamaica Plain & Bedford, MA
  • 2014   Ph.D. Northeastern University, Boston, MA; Psychology
  • 2011   M.A. Northeastern University, Boston, MA; Psychology
  • 2009  B.A. Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA; Magna Cum Laude, Psychology and American Studies

Selected Publications

Stosic, M. D., Weaver, A. E., Fujiwara, K., Vicaria, I. M., Isaacowitz, D. M., & Ruben, M.A. (in press). Spontaneous behavioral synchrony and rapport in intergroup and intragroup interactions. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

Kenyon, E. A., Stage, M. A. , Kiefer, R. , Ruben, M. A., Livingston, N. A., Berke, D. S., & Shipherd, J. C. (2025). Associations between health care access and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms among rural and urban lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer adults. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.70039

Ruben, M. A., Blanch-Hartigan, D., & Hall, J. A. (in press). What is artificial intelligence (AI) “empathy”? A study comparing ChatGPT and physician responses on an online forum. Journal of General Internal Medicine.

Stosic, M. D. & Ruben, M. A. (in press). To desire closeness or to feel it: Behavioral synchrony and mimicry signal different experiences of relationship closeness. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior.

Stosic, M. D., Weaver, A. E., Blanch-Hartigan, D., Sanders, J. J., Schwartz, R., Hall, J. A., Duong, F., Meyer, E. C., Waisel, D. B., Blum, R. H., & Ruben, M. A. (in press). What is clinical empathy in anesthesiology? Perspectives from practicing anesthesiologists. Anesthesia & Analgesia Practice.

Paganini, G., Weaver, A. E., Carroll, A., Ruben, M. A., Mathur, V., & Lloyd, P. (2025). Leveraging insights from the psychological science of gender stereotyping to advance scholarship on gender-diverse individuals’ pain experiences. Journal of Pain. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2025.105430

Ruben, M. A., Stage, M. A., Batchelder, A. W., Gilbert, C., Shipherd, J. C., Livingston, N.A., Weaver, A. E., & Berke, D. S. (2025). Nonverbal expressions of shame among rurally-situated, but not urban situated, LGBTQ adults predict suicidal ideation. PLOS Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmen.0000129

Stage, M. A. & Ruben, M. A. (2024). From cueless to cue-full: Understanding health care cues’ impact on sexual orientation and gender identity disclosure. Translational Issues in Psychological Science. https://doi.org/10.1037/tps0000442

Stosic, M. D., Ruben, M. A., Duenas, J., & Flynn-Evans, E. (2024). Gender bias in the perception of other’s fatigue: Women report more fatigue than men but have their fatigue underestimated by others. Sex Roles. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-024-01534-6

Cipollina, R., Ruben, M. A., Maroney, M., Fu, C., Gonzalez, A., Fogwell, N. T.,
Bettergarcia, J., & Levitt, H. (2024). The damaging legacy of damage-centered LGBTIQ+research: Implications for healthcare and LGBTIQ+ health. Journal of Social Issues. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12641

Ruben, M. A. & Stosic, M. D. (2024). Documenting race and gender biases in pain assessment and a novel intervention designed to reduce biases. The Journal of Pain, 25(9),104550. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2024.104550

 

 

More Information

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