Affectability of positive and negative written personal accounts on positive meaning finding and positive affect.

Affectability of positive and negative written personal accounts on positive meaning finding and positive affect.
Renee Hemara
Australian College of Applied Psychology
Word count:
1518
Abstract
We investigated the expressive writing paradigm through the positive, neutral and negative written event accounts of undergraduate students of the Australian College of Applied Psychology. Undergraduates (N= 173, Mean age = 27.52; 75% Female) were required to answer a number of tests acting as a decoy before asked to describe in writing a positive or negative event dependent on random assignment. Control group was asked to describe their day in attempt for results of neutral stimulus. At the conclusion of this written account, participants completed a positive and negative affectability scale to test for ambient mood; as well as a questionnaire to determine positive meaning finding. Results suggest that writing about an intense positive experience will result in a greater increase in positive affect ((M negative = -3.81, SD = 9.54; M positive= 3.14, SD = 7.34) p < .001). In analysis of positive meaning finding, M negative= 15.46, SD = 4.35; M positive = 19.24, SD = 2.65 (p < .001).
Keywords: Expressive writing paradigm, positive and negative affect, positive meaning finding
Affectability of positive and negative written personal accounts on positive meaning finding and positive affect.
An individual’s conduct of thoughts and feelings disclosure relating to aspects of their life is often utilized through expressive writing as a therapeutic strategy. This act is more formally recognized as the expressive writing paradigm (Nicholls, 2009), describing the health benefits of expressive writing production. Rebuttals against this theory include its lack of a clear definition in regard to the reasons it proves an effective therapy (Sloan & Marx, 2004), though its effectiveness remains undisputed. Expressive writing in studies can include a variety of different topic

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