Janice Habarth, PhD
Position:
Associate Professor
Contact Information:
jhabarth@paloaltou.eduOther Positions:
Core Associate Professor
Programs:
PhD
Education:
PhD, Clinical Psychology and Women’s Studies, University of Michigan (2008)
BA, Anthropology, Eastern Michigan University (1996)
Biography:
Dr. Janice Habarth is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Palo Alto University. Through her Personality & Social Norms Research Lab, she applies feminist and critical science lenses to investigate healthcare provider cultural competencies, minority stress, and socially normative attitudes about gender and sexual orientation. She developed the Heteronormative Attitudes and Beliefs Scale (Habarth 2015), which has been applied in studies across the U.S. and internationally to assess individual and group differences in internalized heteronormativity. She also contributed to the development of the Gender Minority Stress and Resilience Scale (Testa, Habarth, Peta, Bockting, & Balsam, 2015). At PAU, she mentors doctoral students and teaches doctoral level courses such as Research Methods and Cultural Differences. She is an Associate Director for Academic and Research Training in the Clinical Psychology PhD Program, Director of the Meditation & Psychology Area of Emphasis, and faculty advisor for the Psychological Association for Gender Expression and Sexual Orientation (PAGES) student group.
Dr. Habarth completed a joint PhD in Clinical Psychology and Women's Studies at the University of Michigan, including a year-long pedagogy fellowship through the Sweetland Writing Center. As a pre-doctoral intern at the University of Michigan's Institute for Human Adjustment, she provided adult and family/child outpatient services and engaged in a year-long research and clinical fellowship in child and family bereavement. As a graduate student, Dr. Habarth also taught numerous courses in English, Women’s Studies, and Psychology. Dr. Habarth then completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in clinical health psychology at Michigan State University's Consortium for Advanced Psychology Training (Flint Area Medical Education). At MSU-FAME, she conducted pre-surgical and multidisciplinary clinic assessments, served on a consultation liaison team, conducted mindfulness interventions for chronic illness, implemented a medical student wellness study, and gave invited talks to enhance medical faculty and residents' behavioral health and cultural competencies.
Overall, Dr. Habarth strives to integrate feminist and diversity, equity, and inclusion considerations into her research, clinical training, and pedagogical efforts. She has worked as an instructor, researcher, and clinician in public university, private university, liberal arts college, and academic medicine settings. Her primary research focus involves socially normative attitudes about sexual orientation and gender, with a distal aim of supporting healthcare providers to engage effectively with diverse populations.
Areas of Interest:
Research Expertise:
Socially normative attitudes about gender and sexual orientation; gender and sexual minority competencies among healthcare providers; sexual orientation and gender minority stress; social and individual facets of marginalization, stigma, power, and privilege
PAU Research Lab:
Personality & Social Norms
Teaching Expertise:
Research Methods and Statistics; Cultural Competence; Gender Studies; Health Psychology; Writing Pedagogy
Selected Publications:
*student/mentee coauthors
Lee, H.*, Tomita, K.*, Habarth, J., Operario, D., Yi, H., Choo., S., & Kim, S. (2020). Internalized transphobia and mental health among transgender adults: A nationwide, cross-sectional survey in South Korea. International Journal of Transgender Health, 21(2), 182-193.
Habarth, J., Makhoulian, S.*, Nelson, J.*, Todd, C.*, & Trafalis, S. (2019). Beyond simple differences: Moderators of gender differences in heteronormativity. Journal of Homosexuality, 67(6), 740-767.
Habarth, J., Wickham, R., Holmes, K.*, Sandoval, M.*, & Balsam, K. F. (2019). Heteronormativity and women’s psychosocial functioning in heterosexual and same-sex couples. Psychology & Sexuality, 10(3), 185-199.
Habarth, J. (2015). Development of the Heteronormative Attitudes and Beliefs Scale. Psychology & Sexuality, 6(2), 166-188.
Testa, R. J., Habarth, J., Peta, J., Balsam, K., & Bockting, W. (2015). Development of the Gender Minority Stress and Resilience Measure. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 2(1), 65-77.
Bussolari, C., Habarth, J., Phillips, S.*, Katz, R., & Packman, W. (2018). Self-compassion, social constraints, and psychosocial outcomes in a recently bereaved pet loss sample. OMEGA – Journal of Death and Dying, 82(3), 389-408.
Garneau-Fournier, J.*, Turchik, J., & Habarth, J. (2018). Factors associated with sexual dysfunction symptoms among veterans who have experienced military sexual trauma. International Journal of Sexual Health, 30, 28-41.