RESEARCHER & PROGRAM MANAGER 
YALE UNIVERSITY

MARIA EUGENIA PANERO, PhD

Welcome to my site! ​My research explores the effects of entering into fictional worlds. Having worked as an actor, I am fascinated by the psychology of acting. I have examined the personality traits of actors - finding that actors experience greater imaginative suggestibility, fantasy proneness, dissociation, and absorption than do other kinds of artists and non-artists. I also study people who engage in make-believe through reading fiction or watching a performance. I have analyzed differential effects on social skills, memory, comprehension, and engagement.

Feel free to explore, imagine, and drop me a line!​
​M.E.'s research has been featured in Time Magazine, The Atlantic, Monitor on Psychology, NTN24 News TV, The Daily Pennsylvanian, PsyPost, and Science Daily. She has published in high-impact psychology research journals and presented her work in national and international scientific conferences. She has received awards from the American Psychological Association, the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, and Boston College. She is on the editorial board for the American Psychological Association journal, Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts. Dr. Panero has a PhD in Social Psychology from Boston College.