Publications

Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Recent articles that can be downloaded directly

General vita or resume that includes all publications

Pennebaker, J.W., & Chung, C.K. (in press). Computerized text analysis of Al-Qaeda transcripts. In K. Krippendorff & M. Bock (Eds.), A content analysis reader. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Mehl, M.R., Vazire, S., Ramirez-Esparza, N., Slatcher, R.B., & Pennebaker, J.W. (2007). Are women really more talkative than men? Science, 317, 82.

Slatcher, R.B. & Pennebaker, J.W. (2006). How do I love thee? Let me count the words: The social effects of expressive writing. Psychological Science, 17, 660-664.

Authored Books

Pennebaker, J.W. (1997). Opening Up: The Healing Power of Expressing Emotions, revised edition. New York: Guilford Press. (www.guilford.com or www.amazon.com -- Spanish, German, Japanese, Polish, Korean, Indonesian, and Hungarian translations are also available). Opening UpFirst published in 1990, Opening Up provides a broad overview of the power of writing or talking about emotional experiences. Dozens of studies in recent years have found that when people are able to translate emotional experiences into words, their physical and mental health improves. This book explores how and why emotional disclosure is so powerful.

Pennebaker, J.W. (2004). Writing to Heal: A Guided Journal for Recovering from Trauma and Emotional Upheaval. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Press. (www.newharbinger.com or www.amazon.com). This is a workbook aimed for a general audience. It draws on recent research to help guide people who want to try to write about emotional issues in their lives.

Pennebaker, J.W. (1982). The Psychology of Physical Symptoms. New York: Springer-Verlag. Although out of print, you can download the entire book by clicking here.

Edited Books

Colligan, M., Pennebaker, J.W. & Murphy L. (Eds.) (1982). Mass Psychogenic Illness: A Social Psychological Perspective. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Paez, D., Valencia, J.F., Pennebaker, J.W., Rimé, B., & Jodelet, D. (Eds.) (1998). Memorias Colectivas de Procesos Culturales y Políticos. San Sabastian, Spain: Universidad del Pais Vasco Servicio Editorial.

Pennebaker, J.W. (Ed.) (1995). Emotion, Disclosure, and Health. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Pennebaker, J.W., Paez, D., & Rimé, B. (Eds.) (1997). Collective Memories of Political Events: Social Psychological Perspectives. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Traue, H. & Pennebaker, J.W. (Eds.) (1993). Emotion, Inhibition, and Health. Seattle: Hogrefe & Huber Publishers.

Wegner, D.M. & Pennebaker, J.W. (Eds.) (1993). Handbook of Mental Control. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Software

Pennebaker, J.W., Booth, R.J., & Francis, M.E. (2007). Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count: LIWC 2007. Austin, TX: LIWC (www.liwc.net).

Pennebaker, J.W., Booth, R.J., & Francis , M.E. (2006). Linguistic Inqury and Word Count (LIWC), 2006 versions. Austin , TX : LIWC (www.liwc.net). LIWC is a family of computerized text analysis programs that are commercially available through the LIWC website. The LIWC program is designed to compute the percentage of words within any text that taps each of 72+ linguistic dimensions. For example, in any given essay, poem, book, or other language sample, LIWC reports the percentage of words that are emotional, cognitive, social, etc. The program is particularly useful for anyone attempting to summarize basic features of open-ended responses to surveys or the analysis of any written text. There are currently three versions of LIWC available:

LIWC, 2001 version. This was originally published as Pennebaker, J.W., Francis, M.E., & Booth, R.J. (2001). Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC): A Computerized Text Analysis Program. Mahwah NJ: Erlbaum Publishers. The 2001 version is now sold via www.liwc.net. It comes with the full version of the program complete with multiple external dictionaries in Spanish, German, and other languages. Both PC and Mac versions are available. The LIWC manual can be downloaded by clicking here.

LIWC, 2006 version. This will become available in March, 2006. This will be a far more powerful version of LIWC 2001 that will include the ability to search for phrases. It will also support other alphabet systems (e.g., Arabic, Chinese, Japanese). Those who buy the LIWC, 2001 version online after January 1, 2006 will get the LIWC, 2006 version upgrade for free.

LIWClite. This no-frills student version analyzes text along the standard 72 language dimensions. You are not able to create custom dictionaries and can only use it in English.

LIWC analyses for free. If you prefer not to purchase the LIWC software, Dr. James W. Pennebaker will be happy to analyze your text files for free. Please read the LIWC manual to be sure your files are prepared appropriately. You can then put your files in a zipped folder and email them to Pennebaker@mail.utexas.edu. We can usually analyze your files the same day you send them. Because Pennebaker is developing a large text archive, he asks that you allow him to keep a copy of the text files that you send him. In order to conform to various IRB regulations, you must strip any identifying information from your files (e.g., names, phone numbers, social security numbers, etc).