Biography:James W. Pennebaker
James Whiting Pennebaker | |
|---|---|
 James W. Pennebaker at the 2011 Texas Book Festival. | |
| Born | March 2, 1950 Midland, Texas, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Regents Centennial Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin |
| Known for | Social psychology Writing therapy Anthropological linguistics Psycholinguistics Sociolinguistics physical symptoms |
James Whiting Pennebaker (born March 2, 1950) is an American social psychologist. He is a Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin and a member of the Academy of Distinguished Teachers.[1] His research focuses on the relationship between natural language use, health, and social behavior, most recently "how everyday language reflects basic social and personality processes".[2]
Education and career
Pennebaker received his B.A. in psychology from Eckerd College in 1972 with honors and his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin in 1977.[3]
He has held the following positions:[1]
- 1977–1983: Assistant Professor of Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Virginia
- 1983–1997: Associate and Full Professor, Southern Methodist University; 1995–1997: Chair of Psychology Department
- 1997–present: Professor, University of Texas at Austin; 2005–2009: Bush Regents Professor of Liberal Arts, 2005–2014: Chair of Psychology Department,
- 2009–present: Regents Centennial Professor of Liberal Arts
- 2005–2010: International Research Professor, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, England
- 2016–2018: Executive Director, Project 2021 to rethink undergraduate education University of Texas at Austin.
Research
Over the course of his career, Pennebaker has studied the nature of physical symptoms, health consequences of secrets, expressive writing, and natural language, and has received grants from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Templeton Foundation, the U.S. Army Research Institute, and other federal agencies for studies in language, emotion, and social dynamics.
A pioneer of writing therapy, he has researched the link between language and recovering from trauma and been "recognized by the American Psychological Association as one of the top researchers on trauma, disclosure, and health."[4][5] In particular, he finds a person's use of "low-level words", such as pronouns and articles, predictive of recovery as well as indicative of sex, age, and personality traits: "Virtually no one in psychology has realized that low-level words can give clues to large-scale behaviors."[4][6]
In the mid-1990s, he and colleagues developed the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC; pronounced "Luke"), a computerized text analysis program that outputs the percentage of words in a given text that fall into one or more of over 80 linguistic (e.g., first-person singular pronouns, conjunctions), psychological (e.g., anger, achievement), and topical (e.g., leisure, money) categories. It builds on previous research establishing strong links between linguistic patterns and personality or psychological state, but makes possible far more detailed results than did hand counts.[4][6] Pennebaker and associates have used this tool to analyze the language of Al Qaeda leaders and of political candidates, particularly in the 2008 United States presidential election.[4][6] The use of LIWC is widespread. It is commonly used to examine how different groups of people communicate or write, how individuals may differ in their writing across contexts, and is used to detect deception. Pennebaker blogs with associates on what linguistic analysis says about political leaders, at Wordwatchers: Tracking the language of public figures,[4] and Pennebaker Conglomerates, Inc. offers free LIWC-based text analysis tools online, including a language style matching calculator and a language-based application of the Thematic Apperception Test.[7]
In January 2017, Pennebaker was one of the speakers in the Linguistic Society of America's inaugural Public Lectures on Language series.[8]
Recognition
In 2023 Pennebaker was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[9]
Selected publications
Books
- The Psychology of Physical Symptoms. New York: Springer, 1982. ISBN:978-0-387-90730-7
- (Ed., with Daniel M. Wegner) Handbook of Mental Control. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1993. ISBN:978-0-13-379280-5
- Emotion, Disclosure, and Health. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, 1995. ISBN:978-1-55798-308-4
- Opening up: The Healing Power of Confiding in Others. New York: Morrow, 1990. Repr. Opening Up: The Healing Power of Expressing Emotions. New York: Guilford, 1997. ISBN:978-1-57230-238-9
- Writing to Heal: A Guided Journal for Recovering from Trauma and Emotional Upheaval. Oakland, California: New Harbinger, 2004. ISBN:978-1-57224-365-1
- The Secret Life of Pronouns: What Our Words Say About Us. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2011. ISBN:978-1-60819-480-3
Co-authored books
- Expressive Writing: Words that Heal. Idyll Arbor, 2014. James Pennebaker; John Evans. ISBN:9781611580464
- Opening Up by Writing It Down, Third Edition: How Expressive Writing Improves Health and Eases Emotional Pain. Guilford Press, 2014. James Pennebaker, Joshua M. Smyth. ISBN:978-1462524921
Articles
- with Sandra Klihr Beall (1986). "Confronting a traumatic event: Toward an understanding of inhibition and disease". Journal of Abnormal Psychology 95 (3): 274–281. doi:10.1037/0021-843x.95.3.274. PMID 3745650. http://homepage.psy.utexas.edu/HomePage/Faculty/Pennebaker/Reprints/Beall1986.pdf. Retrieved 2011-08-21.
- with Janice K. Kiecolt-Glaser; Ronald Glaser (1988). "Disclosure of traumas and immune function: health implications for psychotherapy". Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 56 (2): 239–245. doi:10.1037/0022-006x.56.2.239. PMID 3372832. http://homepage.psy.utexas.edu/HomePage/Faculty/Pennebaker/Reprints/Kiecolt.pdf. Retrieved 2011-08-21.
- Pennebaker, James W. (1989). "Confession, Inhibition, and Disease". Advances in Experimental Social Psychology Volume 22. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology. 22. Academic Press. pp. 211–244. doi:10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60309-3. ISBN 9780120152223.
- with David Watson (April 1989). "Health complaints, stress, and distress: exploring the central role of negative affectivity". Psychological Review 96 (2): 234–254. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.96.2.234. PMID 2710874. http://homepage.psy.utexas.edu/homepage/faculty/pennebaker/reprints/Watson&P89.pdf.
- Pennebaker, James W. (July 1993). "Putting stress into words: Health, linguistic, and therapeutic implications". Behaviour Research and Therapy 31 (6): 539–548. doi:10.1016/0005-7967(93)90105-4. PMID 8347112.
- Pennebaker, James W. (May 1997). "Writing About Emotional Experiences as a Therapeutic Process". Psychological Science 8 (3): 162–166. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.1997.tb00403.x. http://homepage.psy.utexas.edu/homepage/Class/Psy394V/Pennebaker/Reprints/Support/Pennebaker%201997.pdf.
- with Janel D. Seagal (1999). "Forming a story: The health benefits of narrative". Journal of Clinical Psychology 55 (10): 1243–1254. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1097-4679(199910)55:10<1243::AID-JCLP6>3.0.CO;2-N. PMID 11045774. http://homepage.psy.utexas.edu/homepage/faculty/pennebaker/reprints/Seagal1999.pdf.
- with Jennifer K. Bosson; William B. Swann, Jr. (2000). "Stalking the perfect measure of implicit self-esteem: The blind men and the elephant revisited?". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 79 (4): 631–643. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.79.4.631. PMID 11045743. https://labs.la.utexas.edu/swann/files/2016/03/Stalking_Measure.PDF.
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 James W. Pennebaker Background Information , Department of Psychology, University of Texas.
- ↑ James W. Pennebaker at Social Psychology Network, December 1, 2010, retrieved August 21, 2011.
- ↑ "ECAlum:Academic Grads (1970s) - Eckerd Academic Wiki". 2013-07-07. http://academics.eckerd.edu/facultywiki/index.php/ECAlum:Academic_Grads_(1970s).
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Jessica Wapner, "He Counts Your Words (Even Those Pronouns)", Biography, New York Times October 13, 2008.
- ↑ Earlita Chenault, James W. Pennebaker: Author of Writing to Heal , New Harbinger Publications, Inc., retrieved August 21, 2011.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Jan Dönges, "What Your Choice of Words Says about Your Personality: A language analysis program reveals personality, mental health and intent by counting and categorizing words", Scientific American Mind, July 2009 (originally titled "You Are What You Say").
- ↑ Online Projects, Pennebaker Conglomerates, Inc., Online Research Consortium, University of Texas Department of Psychology.
- ↑ LSA Public Lectures on Language Series: http://www.linguisticsociety.org/content/lsa-public-lectures-language-series
- ↑ Lee, Adrienne (2023-09-29). "Three UT Austin Faculty Inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences" (in en-US). https://news.utexas.edu/2023/09/29/three-ut-austin-faculty-inducted-into-the-american-academy-of-arts-and-sciences/.
External links
- James W. Pennebaker homepage , Department of Psychology, University of Texas
- Wordwatchers: Tracking the language of public figures
- In Synch: Language Style Matching, James Pennebaker Conglomerates at Online Research Consortium
- Works by and about James W. Pennebaker at OCLC WorldCat
- Reprints of articles by James W. Pennebaker at Department of Psychology, University of Texas
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