Laurel M. Peterson, Ph.D. – Associate Professor of Psychology, Health Studies-Affiliated Faculty, Bryn Mawr College (B.A. Dickinson College, 2006; Ph.D. The George Washington University, 2012; Postdoc University of Pittsburgh, 2014) is a health psychologist trained in applied social psychology and behavioral medicine whose research explores the mediating processes linking the experience of discrimination to health outcomes, including increased likelihood of engaging in risky health behavior and physiological wear and tear on the body. Her work spans diverse topics from HIV/AIDS to salivary cortisol, substance use, cardiovascular health and infectious disease prevention (e.g., covid prevention behavior, vaccination decision-making). A cross-cutting theme of her work focuses on how race and gender and the social experience of these identities (i.e., racial discrimination, masculinity) impact health cognitions, behaviors, and physiological processes. The current projects in her laboratory use traditional questionnaire methodologies along with cutting-edge ambulatory data collection, specifically, tracking participants’ health behaviors and blood pressure over the course of their daily lives using programmed smartphones and ambulatory blood pressure monitors. She also conducts ongoing work exploring contextual gender effects of health risk behavior motivations and prevention messaging among college students. In 2022, she was awarded Bryn Mawr’s Rosabeth Moss Kanter Change Master Fund in recognition of her demonstrated contributions to social betterment through scholarship.
Dr. Peterson on Bryn Mawr College’s Open Access Repository