Abstract
Range and Jenkins (2010) timely and compelling review of Pennebaker’s (1989, 1993) Expressive Writing Paradigm (EWP) provides a valuable framework for conceptualizing the role of gender-related variables in EWP studies, and for examining these variables in the context of gender schema theory, social role theory, and gender socialization theory. This comment contributes to Range and Jenkins efforts by integrating their analysis with: 1) findings regarding multimodal assessment of individual differences and outcomes; and 2) process-focused studies of participants’ responses to different psychological assessment tools. When multimodal assessment procedures are coupled with experimental manipulations that differentially impact different measures, researchers’ understanding of the benefits of trauma writing will increase and the efficacy of disclosure interventions in applied settings will be enhanced.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andersen, S. M., & Chen, S. (2002). The relational self: An interpersonal social-cognitive theory. Psychological Review, 109, 619–645.
Archer, R. P., & Krishnamurthy, R. (1993). Combining the Rorschach and MMPI in the assessment of adolescents. Journal of Personality Assessment, 60, 132–140.
Batten, S., Follette, V., Hall, M., & Palm, K. (2002). Physical and psychological effects of written disclosure among sexual abuse survivors. Behavior Therapy, 33, 107–122.
Bem, S. L. (1984). Androgeny and gender schema theory: A conceptual and empirical integration. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, 32, 179–226.
Bender, L. (1938). A visual-motor gestalt test and its clinical use. American Orthopsychiatric Association Research Monographs, No. 3, pp. 3–176.
Bornstein, R. F. (1995). Sex differences in objective and projective dependency tests: A meta-analytic review. Assessment, 2, 319–331.
Bornstein, R. F. (2002). A process dissociation approach to objective-projective test score interrelationships. Journal of Personality Assessment, 78, 47–68.
Bornstein, R. F. (2005). The dependent patient: A practitioner’s guide. Washington: APA Books.
Bornstein, R. F. (2007). Toward a process-based framework for classifying personality tests: Comment on Meyer and Kurtz (2006). Journal of Personality Assessment, 89, 202–207.
Bornstein, R. F. (2009). Heisenberg, Kandinsky, and the heteromethod convergence problem: Lessons from within and beyond psychology. Journal of Personality Assessment, 91, 1–8.
Bornstein, R. F., Rossner, S. C., Hill, E. L., & Stepanian, M. L. (1994). Face validity and fakability of objective and projective measures of dependency. Journal of Personality Assessment, 63, 363–386.
Bornstein, R. F., Bowers, K. S., & Bonner, S. (1996a). Effects of induced mood states on objective and projective dependency scores. Journal of Personality Assessment, 67, 324–340.
Bornstein, R. F., Bowers, K. S., & Bonner, S. (1996b). Relationships of objective and projective dependency scores to sex role orientation in college student subjects. Journal of Personality Assessment, 66, 555–568.
Burn, S. M. (1996). The social psychology of gender. NY: McGraw-Hill.
Cadbury, S. (1991). The concept of dependence as developed by Birtchnell: A critical evaluation. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 64, 237–251.
Cizek, G. J., Rosenberg, S. L., & Koons, H. H. (2008). Sources of validity evidence for educational and psychological tests. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 68, 397–412.
Cohen, J. (1992). A power primer. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 155–159.
Cramer, P., & Blatt, S. J. (1990). Use of the TAT to measure change in defense mechanisms following intensive psychotherapy. Journal of Personality Assessment, 54, 236–251.
Cross, S. E., Bacon, P. L., & Morris, M. L. (2000). The relational-interdependent self-construal and relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 791–808.
Eagly, A. H. (1987). Sex differences in social behavior: A social role interpretation. Hillsdale: Erlbaum.
Embretson, S. E. (1983). Construct validity: Construct representation versus nomothetic span. Psychological Bulletin, 93, 179–197.
Erdelyi, M. H. (1985). Psychoanalysis: Freud’s cognitive psychology. NY: W. W. Norton.
Francis, M. E., & Pennebaker, J. W. (1992). Putting stress into words: The impact of writing on physiological, absentee, and self-reported emotional well-being measures. American Journal of Health Promotion, 6, 280–286.
Frattaroli, J. (2006). Experimental disclosure and its moderators: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 132, 823–865.
Gilbert, L. A. (1987). Male and female emotional dependency and its implications for the therapist-client relationship. Professional Psychology, Research and Practice, 18, 555–561.
Johnson, F. A. (1993). Dependency and Japanese socialization. NY: New York University Press.
Machover, K. (1949). Personality projection in the drawing of the human figure: A method of personality investigation. Springfield: Charles C. Thomas.
Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (1991). Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotions, and motivation. Psychological Review, 98, 224–253.
McClelland, D. C., Koestner, R., & Weinberger, J. (1989). How do self-attributed and implicit motives differ? Psychological Review, 96, 690–702.
McGrath, R. E. (2001). Toward more clinically relevant assessment research. Journal of Personality Assessment, 77, 307–332.
Meyer, G. J. (1996). The Rorschach and MMPI: Toward a more scientific understanding of cross-modal assessment. Journal of Personality Assessment, 67, 558–578.
Meyer, G. J., Finn, S. E., Eyde, L. D., Kay, G. G., Moreland, K. L., Dies, R. R., et al. (2001). Psychological testing and psychological assessment: A review of evidence and issues. American Psychologist, 56, 128–165.
Pennebaker, J. W. (1989). Confession, inhibition, and disease. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology, vol. 22 (pp. 211–244). NY: Academic.
Pennebaker, J. W. (1993). Putting stress into words: Health, linguistic, and therapeutic implications. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 31, 539–549.
Pennebaker, J. W. (1997). Writing about emotional experiences as a therapeutic process. Psychological Science, 8, 162–166.
Pennebaker, J. W., & Beall, S. (1986). Confronting a traumatic event: Toward an understanding of inhibition and disease. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 95, 274–281.
Pennebaker, J. W., & Francis, M. E. (1996). Cognitive, emotional, and language processes in disclosure. Cognition and Emotion, 10, 601–626.
Range, L. M., & Jenkins, S. R. (2010). Who benefits from Pennebaker’s expressive writing paradigm? Research recommendations from three gender theories. Sex Roles, this issue.
Range, L. M., Kovac, S. H., & Marion, M. (2000). Does writing about the bereavement lessen grief following sudden, unintentionl death? Death Studies, 24, 1–19.
Riemann, B. C., & McNally, R. J. (1995). Cognitive processing of personally relevant information. Cognition and Emotion, 9, 325–340.
Sato, T. (2001). Autonomy and relatedness in psychopathology and treatment: A cross-cultural formulation. Genetic, Social, and General Psychology Monographs, 127, 89–127.
Seligman, M. E. P. (1995). The effectiveness of psychotherapy. American Psychologist, 50, 965–974.
Smyth, J. M. (1998). Written emotional expression: Effect sizes, outcome types, and moderating variables. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 66, 174–184.
Yamaguchi, S. (2004). Further clarifications of the concept of amae in relation to dependence and attachment. Human Development, 47, 28–33.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bornstein, R.F. Gender Schemas, Gender Roles, and Expressive Writing: Toward a Process-focused Model. Sex Roles 63, 173–177 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-010-9752-z
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-010-9752-z