Robin S. Rosenberg

Robin Sue Rosenberg is an American clinical psychologist and author. She is certified in clinical psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology, licensed to practice in California and Massachusetts, a specialist in treating eating disorders and anxiety disorders, has been certified in clinical hypnosis, and is an expert on the psychology of superheroes. Dr. Rosenberg was born in New York City, and attended Hunter College High School. She received her B.A. in 1980 from NYU and her Ph.D. in clinical psychology in 1987 from the University of Maryland, College Park. Her Ph.D. advisor was Barry Smith. She has taught at Lesley University and Harvard University.

Rosenberg is mostly known for her textbooks and writings on the psychology of popular culture, focusing on the psychology of superheroes. Her textbooks include Abnormal Psychology, 2e (in press), 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), and Fundamentals of Psychology: The Brain, the Person, the World (2002, 2004). (All of these texts were co-authored with Kosslyn.)

Her books on the psychology of popular culture include Superhero Origins: What Makes Superheroes Tick and Why We Care (in press), What Is a Superhero (ed, with Coogan, in press), Our Superheroes, Ourselves (ed, in press), Psychology of Superheroes (ed., 2008), What's the Matter with Batman? (self-published, 2012), and Psychology of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011, ed. with S. O'Neill).

Rosenberg has also played an active role in organizing events, such as panels at San Diego Comic Convention (e.g., "Is the Joker a Psychopath? You Decide!"), and she writes a blog for Psychology Today and has regular blog entries in Red Room and Huffington Post. She has also published various articles that attempt to educate the public about findings in scientific psychology by exploring superheroes (e.g., "Are the most compelling superheroes the ones who are most like us?," which appeared in Science and Religion Today [2010]; Heroes on the Ball Field, which appeared in AOL News [2010]; and "The Hulk: Making a diagnosis" [2008], which appeared in the Boston Phoenix). She has written articles exploring popular culture more broadly, such as those in the Financial Times and EverydayHealth.com.

Rosenberg has also been featured in the media, including in the History Channel special Batman Unmasked: Psychology of the Dark Knight (also on the Blu-Ray DVD of The Dark Knight), Superheroes (a documentary about real-life superheroes that aired on HBO in August 2011), in the Italian magazine FIRMA, and on various comic book websites such as Newsarama.

Rosenberg is an accomplished musician. She sings and plays rhythm guitar. She prefers the pleasure of playing with friends for fun rather than performing. She is married and has three sons.