Research Interests

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. 

Selected Publications

Spencer, S.M., Oliveira, J.M., Ruben, M.A., Blais, C., Nugent, L.A. (2020). Interdisciplinary Education as a Route to Promoting Psychology across Occupations. Society for the Teaching of Psychology.

Ruben, M. A., Blanch-Hartigan, D., & Shipherd, J. C. (2018).To know another’s pain: a meta-analysis of caregivers’ and healthcare providers’ pain assessment accuracy. Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

Ruben, M.A., Meterko, M., & Bokhour, B. G. (2018). Do patient perceptions of provider communication relate to experiences of physical pain? Patient Education and Counseling, 101(2), 209-213.

Ruben, M. A., Blosnich, J. R., Dichter, M. E., Luscri, L., & Shipherd, J. C. (2017). Will veterans answer sexual orientation and gender identity questions? Medical Care, 55, S85-S89.

Ruben, M. A., Shipherd, J. C., AhnAllen, C. G., Sloan, C. A., Topor, D., Matza, A. R., & Trezza, G. R. (2017). Advancing LGBT healthcare policies and clinical care within a large academic healthcare system: A case study. Journal of Homosexuality, 64(10), 1411-1431.

Ruben, M. A. & Hall, J. A. (2016). Health care providers’ nonverbal behavior can lead patients to show their pain more accurately: An analogue study. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 40(3), 221-234. 

Ruben, M. A., Hall, J. A., & Blanch-Hartigan, D. (2016). Nonverbal communication as a pain reliever: the impact of physician supportive nonverbal behavior on experimentally induced pain experience. Health Communication, 32(8), 970-976.

Ruben, M. A., Hall, J. A., & Schmid Mast, M. (2015). Smiling in a job interview: When less is more. Journal of Social Psychology, 155, 107-126.

Ruben, M. A., Hill, K. M., & Hall, J. A. (2014). How women’s sexual orientation guides accuracy of interpersonal judgments of other women. Cognition and Emotion, 28(8), 1512-21.

Ruben, M. A. & Hall, J. A. (2013). ‘I know your pain’: proximal and distal predictors of pain detection accuracy. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39(10), 1346-58.