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About Michelle

Michelle Nario-Redmond specializes in stereotyping, prejudice, and disability studies. She graduated from the University of Kansas in 1996 with a Ph.D. in social psychology, and her research on disability identity shows that self-conceptualization as a member of the disability community has positive implications for self-advocacy and political participation. Other research demonstrates that simulating disability can backfire, worsing support for disability rights. In 2019, Michelle published “Ableism: The Causes and Consequences of Disability Prejudice” — the first book to review the social science literature on disability prejudice and its undoing. Each chapter includes voices from across the disability community and activist pages to promote social change.

Her work appears in Basic and Applied Psychology, British Journal of Social Psychology, Emerging Adulthood, the Journal of Social Issues, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Perspectives on Psychological Science, Rehabilitation Psychology, Self and Identity, and Social Cognition. She also contributed chapters to the Handbook of Positive Psychological Interventions, and Disability: Social Psychological Perspectives. Michelle is passionate about research-informed policies for social justice, universal design, and increasing citizen access.

A former Ford Fellow, Michelle is a graduate of APA’s Leadership Institute for Women in Psychology, and the Chair of Hiram College’s Diversity Committee. In collaboration with her daughter, Ceara, she created a school-based intervention to raise awareness of disability culture as a valued aspect of human diversity.

Research Interests

Promoting Inclusive Education and Disentangling the Roots of Disability Prejudice. Michelle has contributed chapters to Wiley-Blackwell’s Handbook of Positive Psychological Interventions and AHEAD’s Disabled Faculty and Staff in a Disabling Society, and has published in Rehabilitation Psychology, British Journal of Social Psychology, Emerging Adulthood, Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, Perspectives on Psychological Science, Self & Identity, and Social Cognition.

Hiram College Press Releases


  • 2021

    Professor Nario-Redmond Receives STP Award for Promoting Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Hiram College News (2021, July 8)

  • 2020

    Hiram Psychology Professor Receives National Attention for Published Book. Hiram College News (2020, February 27)

  • 2017

    Hiram study examines disability simulation. Hiram College News (2017, April 8)

    Hiram undergraduates present research on disability prejudice and ableism at international conference. Hiram College News (2017, July 21)

    Hiram College Psychology Professor shines light on disability prejudice with notable research, expertise. Hiram College News (2017, December 7)

  • 2016

    Hiram College psychology professor links political activism to group affiliation. Hiram College News (2016, May 25)

  • 2010

    Nario-Redmond and students present original research at Society for Disability Studies Conference. Hiram College News (2010, May 5)

    Nario-Redmond’s Study Searches for Link Between Student Identity and College Persistence. Hiram College News (2010, April 5)

Selected Publications

  • Nario-Redmond, M. R., *Kemerling, A., & Silverman, A. (2019). Hostile, benevolent, and ambivalent ableism: Contemporary manifestations. Journal of Social Issues: Special Issue on Ableism, 75(3), 726-756.
  • Nario-Redmond, M. R., & *Gospodinov, D. N., & *Cobb, A. (2017). Crip for a Day: The Unintended Consequences of Disability Simulations. Rehabilitation Psychology.
  • Nario-Redmond, M. R. & Oleson, K. C. (2016). Disability group identification, disability-rights advocacy: Contingencies among emerging and other adults. Emerging Adulthood, 4(3), 207-218. DOI: 10.1177/2167696815579830
  • *Lindly, O., Nario-Redmond, M. R., & Noel, J. G. (2014). Creatively re-defining fat: Identification predicts strategic responses to stigma, ingroup attitudes, and well-being. Fat Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Body Weight and Society, 3(2), 179-195. DOI 10.1090/21604851.2014.865968
  • Nario-Redmond, M. R., Noel, J. G, & *Fern, E. (2013). Redefining disability, reimagining the self: Disability identification predicts self-esteem and strategic responses to stigma. Self and Identity, 12(5), 468-488. DOI: 10.1080/15298868.2012.681118
  • Grahe, J. E., Reifman, A., Herman, A., Walker, M., Oleson, K. C., Nario-Redmond, M. R, & Wiebe, R. P. (2012). Harnessing the undiscovered resource of student research projects. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7, 605. DOI: 10.1177/1745691612459057
  • *undergraduate student collaborators. My ResearchGate
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