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Tomi-Ann Roberts

Professor

Professor of Psychology: 1998-present
First year at Colorado College: 1993

Research Interests

Social psychology of emotion, gender, and the body; psychological consequences of the sexual objectification of women and girls; gender differences in self-evaluation, self-conscious emotions, perceptions of bodily states; philosophy of emotions; psychological components of women’s reproductive health; positive psychology of mirth, enjoyment, awe and wonder.

Representative Publications & Presentations

Journal Articles

Fredrickson, B.L., Roberts, T-A., Noll, S., O’Barr, J.F. & Hendler, L. (2011). Bringing the body back: A retrospective on the development of objectification theory. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 35, 689-696.

Dunnavant, N. & Roberts, T-A (forthcoming). Restriction and renewal, pollution and power, constraint and community: The paradoxes of religious women’s attitudes toward menstruation. Sex Roles.

Kozak, M., Frankenhauser, H. & Roberts, T-A. (2009). Objects of desire: Objectification as a function of male sexual orientation. Psychology of Men and Masculinity, 10, 225-230.

Roberts, T-A & Arefi-Afshar, Y. (2007). Not all who stand tall are proud: Gender differences in the proprioceptive effects of upright posture. Cognition and Emotion, 21, 714-727.

Roberts, T-A & Gettman, J.Y. (2004). Mere exposure: Gender differences in the negative effects of priming a state of self-objectification. Sex Roles, 51, 17-27.

Fredrickson, B.L., Roberts, T-A., Noll, S.M., Quinn, D.M., & Twenge, J.M. (1998). That swimsuit becomes you: Sex differences in self-objectification, restrained eating, and math performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 269-285.

Fredrickson, B.L. & Roberts, T-A. (1997). Objectification theory: Toward understanding women's lived experience and mental health risks. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, 173-206.

Edited Book Chapters

Roberts, T-A. & Waters, P.L. (2012). The gendered body project: Motivational components of objectification theory. In R. Ryan (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Human Motivation (pp. 323-334). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. 

Goldenberg, J. L., Roberts, T-A., Morris, K. L., & Cooper, D. P. (in press). Monstrously mortal: Women’s bodies, existential threat, and women’s health risks. Sage Handbook of Gender and Psychology. 

Goldenberg, J.L. & Roberts, T-A. (2011). The birthmark: An existential account of the objectification of women. In R.M. Calogero, S.Tantleff-Dunn, & J.K. Thompson (Eds.), Self-Objectification in women: Causes, consequences, and counteractions (pp. 77-99) .Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association Press. 

Roberts, T-A & Fredrickson, B.L. (2007). Objectification theory. In R.F. Baumeister & K.D. Vohs (Eds.), The Encyclopedia of Social Psychology (pp. 631-633). Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications.

Roberts, T-A & Goldenberg, J.G. (2007). Wrestling with nature: An existential perspective on the body and gender in self-conscious emotions. In J.L. Tracy, R.W. Robins & J.P. Tangney (Eds.), The Self-Conscious Emotions: Theory and Research. New York: Guilford Publications, Inc.

Goldenberg, J.L. & Roberts, T-A. (2004). The beast within the beauty: An existential perspective on the objectification and condemnation of women. In J. Greenberg, S. L., Koole, and T. Pyszczynski (Eds.), Handbook of Experimental Existential Psychology (pp. 71-85), New York : Guilford .

Books

Zurbriggen, E. & Roberts, T-A. (in press). The Sexualization of Girls and Girlhood: Causes, Consequences and Resistance.. New York: Oxford University Press.

Roberts, T-A. (2004). Lanahan Readings in The Psychology of Women, 2 nd Ed. Baltimore, MD: Lanahan.

Awards & Honors

Winkler-Herman Professor of Psychology

News

MICROLECTURE: The Sexualization of Girls

INTERVIEW: An interview on WNYC with Tomi-Ann Roberts, Ph.D. regarding her published research with Yousef Arefi-Afshar (Psychology '03) on gender and posture. The research article appears in Cognition and Emotion.

Click here to listen to WNYC interview

Regular Classes

PY423 Psychology of Morality and Conflict
PY422 Emotion
PY281 Personality
PY143 Psychology of Gender
PY143 Mind and Body (FYE)
PY111 Introduction to Psychology: GLID (FYE)
PY100 Introduction to Psychology: Bases of Behavior

View the Course Schedule >>

Education

This is the Department of Psychology