Psychology

  • Mora Reinka

Mora Reinka

My research focuses on the stress and coping processes of stigma. That is, how do individuals process stigma-related stressors? How do they cope with stigma-related stress? What are the health consequences of this process?

Mora A. Reinka, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Ursinus College. She earned her B.A. (2012) in Psychology from the University of Oregon, as well as her M.S. (2016) and Ph.D. (2020) from the University of Connecticut. She joined the Ursinus College Psychology Department in 2020.

Dr. Reinka’s research focuses on the health consequences of living with a stigmatized identity. Specifically, she investigates stress and coping processes in regard to stigma-related stressors. She has done this with a wide variety of stigmatized identities, including race, weight, and concealable stigmas—those that are not immediately apparent to an outside observer. She conducts her research using physiology (heart rate), cognitive-behavioral measures (reaction times and accuracy), as well as classic experimental paradigms and survey research.

Any students interested in conducting research with Dr. Reinka are encouraged to check out the ROSE Lab page.

Department

Psychology

Degrees

B.A. University of Oregon

M.S., Ph.D. University of Connecticut

Teaching

PSYC 100 – Introductory Psychology

PSYC 311 – Health Disparities

PSYC 312 – Health Psychology: Health Beliefs, Behaviors, and Behavior Change

PSYC 410 – Advance Research Methods in Health Psychology

PSYC 471 – Seminar on Social Stigma

Recent Work

Berardi*, J., Jobson*, E., & Reinka, M. A. (2022). Interaction between health self-efficacy and race on self-reported health status. Psi Chi Journal of Psychological Research, 27(2), 99-104. https://doi.org/10.24839/2325-7342.JN27.2.99

Holder-Dixon, A., Adams, O. R., Cobb, T., Goldberg, A. J., Fikslin, R. A., Reinka, M. A., Gesselman, A. N., & Price, D. M. (2022). Medical avoidance among marginalized groups: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Behavioral Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-022-00332-3

Reinka, M. A., Quinn, D. M., & Puhl, R. M. (2021). Examining the relationship between weight controllability beliefs and eating behaviors: The role of BMI and internalized weight stigma. Appetite, 164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2021.105257

Quinn, D. M., Puhl, R. M., & Reinka, M. A. (2020). Trying again (and again): Weight cycling and depressive symptoms in U.S. adults. PLOS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0239004

Reinka, M.A., Pan-Weisz, B. M., Lawner, E. K., & Quinn, D. M. (2020). Cumulative consequences of stigma: Possessing multiple concealable stigmatized identities is associated with worse quality of life. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 50(4), 253-261. https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12656

Camacho, G., Reinka, M. A., & Quinn, D. M. (2020). Disclosure and concealment of stigmatized identities. Current Opinion in Psychology, 31, 28-32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2019.07.031

Reinka, M. A., & Leach, C. W. (2018). Racialized images: Tracing appraisals of police force and protest. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 115(5), 763-787. doi:10.1037/pspa0000131

Reinka, M. A., & Leach, C. W. (2017). Race and reaction: Divergent views of police violence and protest against. Journal of Social Issues, 73(4), 768-788. doi:10.1111/josi.12247

* indicates undergraduate student collaborator