Jennifer Freyd

Jennifer J. Freyd (born October 16, 1957, in Providence, Rhode Island) is an American psychologist, Professor of Psychology at the University of Oregon, and editor of the Journal of Trauma & Dissociation. Freyd is known for her theories of dynamic mental representations and shareability and her discovery of the phenomenon of representational momentum. Freyd has published over 150 articles. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

In the last two decades, Freyd has researched and written extensively on sexual abuse and memory, the ethics of research on trauma, and developed the concept of betrayal trauma. Freyd's work on institutional betrayal, conducted in collaboration with PhD student Carly P. Smith, has documented that this type of betrayal exacerbates the psychological impact of sexual violence, including increased anxiety, dissociation, and sexual dysfunction. More recent work has pointed to health correlates of institutional betrayal, indicating that institutional betrayal is associated with physical as well as psychological distress, in keeping with Freyd's Betrayal Trauma Theory. Together, Smith and Freyd developed the Institutional Betrayal Questionnaire, now in its second edition, to measure institutional betrayal across a variety of institutional contexts. Their work has been also been applied to judicial settings, to explain the harm that may arise from engaging with legal systems in cases of sexual violence.

Freyd's recent writing has focused on campus sexual assault and issues surrounding how colleges and universities handle these events. The Chronicle of Higher Education has covered the ongoing debate at the University of Oregon and the Association of American Universities (AAU). Dozens of scientists have criticized the AAU's proposed campus climate survey, with Freyd as a key player in the scientific debate.

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