Miriam Liss (mliss)

Academic Degrees

B.A., Wesleyan University; M.A., Ph.D., University of Connecticut

Miriam Liss, Professor of Psychology, earned a Ph.D. (2001) and M.A. (1998) in clinical psychology at the University of Connecticut, after receiving a B.A. (1995) with high honors in psychology from Wesleyan University. She is a clinical psychologist and has conducted research on feminism, body image and objectification, parenting, division of labor, work-family balance. She is the co-author of Balancing the Big Stuff: Finding Happiness in Work, Family and Life, published by Rowman and Littlefield press. She is the co-author of a forthcoming textbook on the Psychology of Women that will be published by Norton.

Dr. Liss has also published research in the area of autism and developmental disorders as well as sensory processing sensitivity, and self-injurious behaviors. She also has developed a collaborative program between UMW and the New England Center for Children (NECC) where students can spend a semester at NECC outside of Boston, performing Applied Behavioral Analysis in a school setting and taking classes for UMW elective credit.

Dr. Liss’ honors include election into Phi Beta Kappa and Psi Chi, where she was selected as the Regional Faculty Advisor Winner and supervised the chapter winning the National Chapter Award in 2006. She received the UMW Outstanding Young Faculty Member Award in 2005 and won the SCHEV Outstanding Faculty award in 2014. She was also named one of Princeton Review’s Best 300 Professors. Her articles have been published in numerous journals including the Sex Roles, Psychology of Women Quarterly, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Journal of Personality and Individual Differences, Personality, and Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines. She also regularly presents at national conferences. Dr. Liss has been interviewed for her work on intensive and attachment parenting for the Washington Post, MSNBC.com, and Live Science. Many of Dr. Liss’ publications and presentations are with UMW student co-authors, and she enjoys mentoring students to do research that is of publishable quality.

Miriam Liss in the News

Liss Leads Student Team to First-Place Finish at VAPS

Professor and Chair of Psychological Science Miriam Liss led a team of students to victory, winning the Best Undergraduate Paper category at the 2024 Virginia Association for Psychological Science conference. The paper, titled "Childhood Trauma, Psychological Flexibility, and Outcomes in College Students," was completed by Ann Marie Camp, Rob Oehler, Read more…

Liss Shares Cultural Insight With ‘FinanceBuzz’

Professor of Psychological Science Miriam Liss contributed to a recent FinanceBuzz article titled "The Most Laid-Back Cities Across the U.S. 2024." FinanceBuzz looked at more than 25 factors across some of America’s biggest cities to find out which cities are the most laid-back and relaxed versus which ones are the Read more…
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