Margaret L. Signorella

(She, Her, Hers)
Distinguished Professor, Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Distinguished Professor, Psychology
Commons/Athletic Center, 208
25 Yearsley Mill Road
Media, PA 19063

Margaret L. Signorella, Ph.D., is a distinguished professor of psychology and women's, gender, and sexuality studies at Penn State Brandywine.

Signorella’s teaching and research focus on the development and consequences of gender and other social stereotypes and the use of computers and technology. Her teaching also emphasizes involving undergraduates in research.

Her research on the development and consequences of gender stereotypes is widely cited. Another area of research is the controversy over single-sex education. She co-edited two special issues of the journal Sex Roles (2011, 2013) on this topic and authored or co-authored several other works addressing the debate.

She is a fellow of the American Psychological Association (Divisions 7, 9, & 35) and has served as president and treasurer of Division 35, Society for the Psychology of Women. She is co-editor (with Irene H. Frieze) of the division's Psychology of Women Book Series.

A Penn State alumna, Signorella earned her graduate degrees (M.S. and Ph.D.) from the psychology department at University Park. Her undergraduate psychology degree (B.S., magna cum laude) is from the University of Pittsburgh. She has served twice as the Penn State Greater Allegheny campus director of academic affairs.

Recent publications

Gillin, L. E., & Signorella, M. L. (2023). Attitudes toward sexual orientation and gender identity in online multiplayer gaming spaces. Psychological Reports. https://doi.org/10.1177/00332941231153798

Signorella, M. L. (2020). Toward a more just feminism. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 44(2), 256-265. https://doi.org/10.1177/0361684320908320

Montecinos, V., Signorella, M. L., & Mazur, E. (2020). Internationalizing the curriculum with United Nations resources. In Schwartz, A. & Miller, R. L. (Eds.). High Impact Educational Practices: A Review of Best Practices with Illustrative Examples (pp. 29-43).

Signorella, M. L. (2018). Using experimental and correlational methods to assess the role of accents and gender on perceptions of competence. SAGE Research Methods Cases Part 2. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781526447593

Nelson, L. R., Signorella, M. L., & Botti, K. G. (2016). Accent, gender, and perceived competence. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 38(2), 166-185. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739986316632319

Complete listing at https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=3DDTa2QAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate

Recent presentations

Signorella, M. L., Hughes, B., Johns, C., Sarkahian, B., Sertima, S., Siter, C., & Valitski, J. (2023, May). Psychology capstone research during a pandemic [poster]. Association for Psychological Science, Washington, DC.

Signorella, M. L. (2022, August). Children remembering gender-related information. Rock Ethics Institute Symposium on the Ethics of Remembering and Re-Remembering Trauma, Penn State University.

Signorella, M. L., Marquit, J., Flint, J., & Gillin, L. E. (2022, March). White mothers and the socialization of gender and race in preschoolers. Association for Women in Psychology, Chicago, IL.

Schaefer, C., Signorella, M. L., & McGuire, J. (2021, April). Gendered memory bias in a gender diverse population [Flash talk]. Society for Research in Child Development. (online)

Signorella, M. L., Marquit, J., Flint, J., Gillin, L., Olszewsky, S., Pahlke, E., Walker, T., & Katz, P. (2021, April). Talking about race with preschoolers: Patterns and correlates in Black and White mothers [Poster]. Society for Research in Child Development. (online)