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The health benefits of writing about positive experiences: The role of broadened cognition
Psychology & Health
Abstract and Figures
This study tested the potential to elicit a broadened attentional focus through writing about a positive life experience and to derive health benefits from such writing. Participants (n = 38) wrote for 20 min each day for 3 consecutive days about either a positive life experience or a control topic. Writing about positive experiences led to improved physical health (measured 4-6 weeks after writing) compared to control and higher levels of global cognitive focus after writing mediated this effect. Notably, while the positive writing condition was more broadened than control, positive affect was not responsible for this difference. Implications for disclosive writing and the broaden and build model are discussed.
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... According to the broaden-and-build hypothesis of positive emotion [22], positive emotions may help expand individual's momentary thought-action resources and enable them to think and solve problems in a more flexible way, and further construct sustainable coping resources and skills, ultimately improving emotional problems and enhancing well-being. A series of studies have tested the role of positive emotional writing in both clinical and nonclinical settings, and found that it could not only reduce negative emotions such as depression and anxiety, but also improve positive experiences such as well-being [19,[23][24][25][26][27][28][29]. For example, Smith and his colleagues (2018) recruited 71 participants with an average age of 28.2 years and randomly divided them into the positive emotional writing group and the control group [19]. ...
... Furthermore, the experimental group underwent a positive emotional writing intervention on the foundation of the routine psychological care. The specific content, duration, and frequency of writing are shown in Table 1, which refers to the paradigm of previous related research [19,[23][24][25][26][27][28][29]. ...
... Finally, this study only explored the impact of positive emotional writing on emotional health from a holistic perspective, lacking exploration of the underlying mechanisms. Previous studies have pointed out that the specific content written by learners during the expressive writing process may be a key factor in its effectiveness [17,26]. Therefore, future research can use content analysis to analyze the specific content written by participants, helping us clarify how positive emotional writing exerts a positive impact on depression, anxiety, and happiness. ...
Background
Depression and anxiety are common psychological issues among international medical students in universities, which have serious negative impacts on their learning and life. The present study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of positive emotional writing in alleviating symptoms of anxiety and depression, as well as enhancing subjective well-being among this population.
Method
This study was conducted at an international college of a comprehensive university in central China. A total of ninety-two participants who met the inclusion criteria were recruited to participate in a single-blind randomized controlled trial, in which participants were not aware that there was an experimental group and a control group. Participants in control received daily psychological care weekly for 8 weeks (n = 46). Correspondingly, participants in experimental group received the positive emotional writing intervention on the basis of daily psychological care. Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and General Well-being Scale (GWB) were used to evaluate the effect of the intervention. Data from 89 students who completed the entire study (experimental group, n = 44; control group, n = 45) were analyzed.
Results
After the intervention, the scores of SDS and SAS in the experimental group significantly decreased, while the subjective well-being score significantly increased. Although the SAS score of the control group after intervention was significantly lower than before, the decrease in SDS and SAS scores, as well as the increase in GWB score, were significantly greater in the experimental group than in the control group.
Conclusion
The findings suggest that positive emotional writing can effectively reduce the depression and anxiety of international medical students, and significantly enhance their subjective well-being, providing ideas for management to solve the psychological problems of international medical students.
Trial registration number
ChiCTR2400087815. Registered at Chinese Clinical Trial Registry.
... Other forms of therapeutic writing that focus on positive thoughts and feelings include writing about one's "best possible future self" (King, 2001) or positive life experiences (Burton & King, 2009). The instructions in Box 2 were used in a study of health college students, where the writing group reported significantly fewer health complaints, relative to a control group, 4-6 weeks later (Burton & King, 2009). ...
... Other forms of therapeutic writing that focus on positive thoughts and feelings include writing about one's "best possible future self" (King, 2001) or positive life experiences (Burton & King, 2009). The instructions in Box 2 were used in a study of health college students, where the writing group reported significantly fewer health complaints, relative to a control group, 4-6 weeks later (Burton & King, 2009). ...
... Conversely, writing about positive experiences tends to improve mood immediately after writing (Burton & King, 2004King, 2001). For example, college students writing about their most positive life experience had significantly higher positive affect and significantly lower negative affect, compared to a control writing group, immediately post writing (Burton & King, 2009). Writing about one's best possible self has also been found to lead to greater increase in positive affect, and no difference in negative affect, compared to controls (Nazarian & Smyth, 2013). ...
and Keywords Expressive writing (EW) was developed in the 1980s by Pennebaker and colleagues, who defined it as "writing focusing on traumatic, stressful or emotional events, and the feelings inspired by these." There have been developments in terms of process, covering a range of instructions, target groups, and writing conditions and, more recently, benefit-finding writing (BFW) about benefits derived from stress or traumatic situations. EW has now been trialed across a broad range of situations, involving mental and physical health domains. Results from meta-analyses find small but significant improvements more related to physical health than mental health parameters. It is thought to be best suited to people with mild-to-moderate psychological distress who are addressing stress-related conditions and situations. The chapter describes common forms of EW and explores the place of BFW. Some mechanisms for expressive writing are discussed, but these are still speculative.
... This prompt has two instructions. First participants wrote in vivid detail in the style of creative writing about one of the most wonderful experiences or happiest moments of their life, including their emotions, and tied this experience to other areas of their life (based on Burton & King, 2009) for 20 min. Secondly, participants were given instructions to foster transpositioning (van Loon, 2017): Write about the strengths that you narrated in the previous exercises. ...
... In addition, though not considered by Rubin et al. (2020), possible explanations of their negative finding could include (1) the failure of the intervention to afford participants an opportunity to validate and explore their grief, (2) the absence of group interaction in processing the writing experiences and the resulting absence of social support and vicarious learning, and (3) the activation of more intense yearning for the deceased following the kindling of happy memories from their shared lives, especially for those with more prolonged and complicated grief reactions. Although we did not measure the impact of individual prompts, sharing by participants during the discussion showed that our Positive Experience prompt reminded them of being capable of great joy and the possibility of happiness, which aligns with the findings by Burton and King (2009), who employed a positive writing study on three consecutive days with a general cohort of college students. In the bereaved group in particular, this was perceived as a crucial insight and expansion of their view on grief and for some, this was the first time since their bereavement that they were conscious of feeling positive emotion. ...
This mixed-method Writing-for-wellbeing pilot study used a pre–post-follow-up design with 20 adults in two groups (10 in a bereaved group and 10 in a non-death/living losses group) to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and potential efficacy of a longitudinal writing intervention in helping participants to work through their grief. Participants completed measures of prolonged grief, adaptive coping, anxiety and depression, and meaning reconstruction. The qualitative analysis was based on a satisfaction questionnaire that included open-ended questions. The intervention was well-received, safe, and personally valuable. The bereaved group reported reductions in symptoms of anxiety, depression, and prolonged grief, and increases in adaptive meaning, help seeking, and spiritual support. The living losses group reported a decrease in help seeking.
... Burton y King (2004, 2008 estudiaron los efectos que escribir sobre sucesos positivos tienen en la salud, encontrando que tres meses después se observaba una reducción significativa de las visitas o quejas médicas. Además, apuntaron un efecto de ampliación de la cognición gracias a la escritura expresiva en la que se consigan aspectos del self y vivencias personales (Burton y King, 2009). Toepfer et al. (2016) apuntaron que un mecanismo implicado en los beneficios de la escritura expresiva positiva es que ponen el foco en el apoyo social y los recursos personales con los que se cuenta. ...
Este manual presenta la fundamentación, las directrices y las herramientas para implementar un programa de intervención psicológica. Se trata de un taller de desarrollo personal y bienestar basado en la psicología humanista (Rogers, 1961) y en la teoría de Corey Keyes (2002, 2003, 2007, 2012) sobre la salud mental y el florecimiento humano.
El programa ha sido testado con más de 300 adultos jóvenes universitarios (Gómez-Marroquín et al., 2023; Gorbeña, Gómez et al., 2021; Gorbeña, Govillard et al., 2021), con más de 50 adultos mayores en el marco de programas de envejecimiento activo (Sarrionandia et al., 2022) y con grupos de adultos, familiares de personas con discapacidad intelectual. Este trabajo previo de diseño y evaluación de la intervención ha contado con la aprobación del Comité de Ética de la Investigación de la Universidad de Deusto.
Brevemente, se trata de una intervención psicológica de 10 sesiones, de dos horas de duración, y de periodicidad semanal. Aborda diferentes dimensiones del desarrollo personal y el bienestar, profundizando en cada sesión en una de ellas. A nivel metodológico, la intervención utiliza estrategias basadas en el aprendizaje experiencial, la experiencia grupal, la escritura expresiva, la introspección personal y la práctica semanal de actividades.
http://www.deusto-publicaciones.es/index.php/main/libro/1343
... Future work should consider combining neutral and positive autobiographical memories, namely by asking participants to recall neutral-positive memories. We anticipate more studies investigating whether, similar to the effects of retrieving positive memories (Burton & King, 2004;Burton & King, 2009;Harris et al., 2010), the retrieval of neutral-positive memories also inhibits the recall of negative memories or increases positive emotions. Such studies may inform strategies for emotional regulation. ...
Background Several studies have shown that the retrieval of positive memories may play a role in emotional regulation. However, it is unclear whether the effects of neutral and positive autobiographical memories differ. There is a need to confirm that genuinely neutral autobiographical memories can be retrieved without bias in response to a prompt to recall neutral memories. Methods In this pilot study, using “home” and “study” as cue words, we investigated whether participants were able to retrieve appropriate autobiographical memories when asked to recall a limited number of neutral or positive memories. Results Although participants were asked to recall neutral autobiographical memories, they tended to recall positive memories. Conclusions Our results support the concept of positive memory bias and suggest that future work should consider combining neutral and positive autobiographical memories, namely by asking participants to recall neutral–positive memories.
... One can also write gratitude letters Lyubomirsky et al., 2011) or organize gratitude visits (Seligman et al., 2005). Writing about one's life in general or specific experiences by focusing on the positive aspects was also shown to improve mood (Burton and King, 2009). Moreover, writing could be beneficial for personal narratives in midlife and older age. ...
Whether personality changes or not over the lifespan has been the subject of a long debate in developmental research. Contrary to assumptions that personality development stops around the age of 30, individuals continue to evolve, and certain traits may get accentuated or diminished while ageing. The present chapter will explore questions such as “how does personality change happen in midlife and older age?” and “is personality change an inevitable development process or something that happens because of conscious time and effort investment?” To answer these questions, the chapter will first define personality and explore how one can measure its development in midlife and older age. Second, it will go on to describe some theoretical models that explain personality development across midlife and older age. Third, the evidence base concerning experiences with personality change in middle and later adulthood will be discussed. Fourth, the chapter will examine how personality development is related to cognitive improvement, emotional and social growth, and physical development. Finally, the chapter will provide some ideas concerning how to foster personality development in midlife and older age by using positive psychology intervention principles.
Background
Several studies have shown that the retrieval of positive memories may play a role in emotional regulation. However, it is unclear whether the effects of neutral and positive autobiographical memories differ. It is necessary to confirm whether genuinely neutral autobiographical memories can be retrieved without bias when prompted to recall neutral memories.
Methods
In this pilot study, using “home” and “study” as cue words, we investigated whether participants were able to retrieve appropriate autobiographical memories when asked to recall a limited number of neutral or positive memories.
Results
Although participants were asked to recall neutral autobiographical memories, they tended to recall positive memories.
Conclusions
Our results support the concept of positive memory bias and suggest that future work should consider combining neutral and positive autobiographical memories by asking participants to recall neutral–positive memories.
Dışavurumcu yazma uygulaması bireylerin kendilerini etkileyen yaşantılara ilişkin duygu ve düşüncelerini yazılı olarak ifade etmelerinin iyileştirici olabileceği fikrinden hareketle geliştirilmiş ve etkililiği pek çok çalışmada incelenmiştir. Literatürde dışavurumcu yazmanın fiziksel ve psikolojik sağlık üzerinde etkili olduğunu gösteren çalışmalar olduğu gibi etkili olmadığını ortaya koyan çalışmalar da yer almaktadır. Bu karmaşık sonuçlardan hareketle sonuçların birlikte değerlendirildiği meta-analiz çalışmalarına başvurulmaktadır. Bu çalışmanın amacı deneysel çalışmalara dayanan bir meta-analiz ile dışavurumcu yazma uygulamasının bireylerin iyi oluşu üzerindeki etkisini incelemektir. Bu amaçla gerçekleştirilen çevrimiçi veri tabanı taramaları sonucunda ulaşılan 11 araştırma çalışmaya dahil edilmiştir. Ulaşılan 11 çalışmada 764 katılımcı yer almaktadır. Bu araştırma sonuçlarının birlikte analiz edilmesi ile gerçekleştirilen meta-analiz sonucunda tahmin edilen ortak etki büyüklüğü Hedges’ g = 0.229 olarak bulunmuştur. Bu sonuç dışavurumcu yazmanın iyi oluş üzerinde pozitif yönlü küçük bir etkiye sahip olduğunu ifade etmektedir. Etki büyüklüğünün geçerliğini incelemek amacıyla gerçekleştirilen yayın yanlılığı analizlerinde herhangi bir yayın yanlılığının olmadığı bulunmuştur.
In this article, the author describes a new theoretical perspective on positive emotions and situates this new perspective within the emerging field of positive psychology. The broaden-and-build theory posits that experiences of positive emotions broaden people's momentary thought-action repertoires, which in turn serves to build their enduring personal resources, ranging from physical and intellectual resources to social and psychological resources. Preliminary empirical evidence supporting the broaden-and-build theory is reviewed, and open empirical questions that remain to be tested are identified. The theory and findings suggest that the capacity to experience positive emotions may be a fundamental human strength central to the study of human flourishing.
In a variation on Pennebaker's writing paradigm, a sample of 81 undergraduates wrote about one of four topics for 20 minutes each day for 4 consecutive days. Participants were randomly assigned to write about their most traumatic life event, their best possible future self, both of these topics, or a nonemotional con- trol topic. Mood was measured before and after writing and health center data for illness were obtained with participant con- sent. Three weeks later, measures of subjective well-being were obtained. Writing about life goals was significantly less upset- ting than writing about trauma and was associated with a sig- nificant increase in subjective well-being. Five months after writ- ing, a significant interaction emerged such that writing about trauma, one's best possible self, or both were associated with decreased illness compared with controls. Results indicate that writing about self-regulatory topics can be associated with the same health benefits as writing about trauma.
This chapter examines some of the literature demonstrating an impact of affect on social behavior. It will consider the influence of affect on cognition in an attempt to further understand on the way cognitive processes may mediate the effect of feelings on social behavior. The chapter describes the recent works suggesting an influence of positive affect on flexibility in cognitive organization (that is, in the perceived relatedness of ideas) and the implications of this effect for social interaction. The goal of this research is to expand the understanding of social behavior and the factors, such as affect, that influence interaction among people. Another has been to extend the knowledge of affect, both as one of these determinants of social behavior and in its own right. And a third has been to increase the understanding of cognitive processes, especially as they play a role in social interaction. Most recently, cognitive and social psychologists have investigated ways in which affective factors may participate in cognitive processes (not just interrupt them) and have begun to include affect as a factor in more comprehensive models of cognition. The research described in the chapter has focused primarily on feelings rather than intense emotion, because feelings are probably the most frequent affective experiences. The chapter focuses primarily on positive affect.
This chapter explores the nature of confession and inhibition. Conversely, not confiding significant experiences is associated with increased disease rates, ruminations, and other difficulties. This pattern of findings has helped in developing a useful theory of active inhibition that shares many of the assumptions of learning theory, psychodynamic models, and more recent cognitive perspectives. The chapter examines the nature of confession per se. The chapter focuses on the physiological and psychological effects of confronting or actively avoiding past traumatic experiences. Based on a number of laboratory and field studies, it is clear that requiring people to write or talk about traumas is associated with both immediate and long-term health benefits. The chapter presents a formal theory of active inhibition. The links among the theory and Freud, animal learning, and cognitive perspectives are discussed in the chapter. The chapter describes the reexamination of catharsis, the development and breakdown of the self, and the role of psychosomatics in social psychology.
Attempting to understand the body’s signals is similar to trying to interpret the noises and sensations of the automobile that we drive. We do not have a computer printout of either the current physiological status of our body or the condition of the various systems of our car. Given this, we are in the position of attempting to understand a large array of ambiguous sensations about which we have at best a modicum of knowledge. Whether we are dealing with human bodies or inanimate cars, the awareness and reporting of symptoms are dependent on psychological or perceptual processes. Throughout this book, a large number of studies have outlined some of the parameters that determine when and why symptoms are reported. Before discussing some of the implications of symptom research, we present the following brief review of our current knowledge about the perception of physical symptoms.
In this article, the author describes a new theoretical perspective on positive emotions and situates this new perspective within the emerging field of positive psychology. The broaden-and-build theory posits that experiences of positive emotions broaden people's momentary thought-action repertoires, which in turn serves to build their enduring personal resources, ranging from physical and intellectual resources to social and psychological resources. Preliminary empirical evidence supporting the broaden-and-build theory is reviewed, and open empirical questions that remain to be tested are identified. The theory and findings suggest that the capacity to experience positive emotions may be a fundamental human strength central to the study of human flourishing.
Previous studies have found that writing about upsetting experiences can improve physical health. In an attempt to explain this phenomenon, 72 first-year college students were randomly assigned to write about either their thoughts and feelings about coming to college or about superficial topics for three consecutive days. Measures of language use within the writing samples and cognitive measures of accessibility and schematic organisation were collected in the weeks before and after writing. As in previous studies, writing about college was found to reduce health centre visits for illness and to improve subjects' grade point average. Text analyses indicated that the use of positive emotion words and changes in words suggestive of causal and insightful thinking were linked to health change. Improved grades, although not linked to these language dimensions, were found to correlate with measures of schematic organisation of college-relevant themes. Implications for using written language to understand cognitive and health processes are discussed.
Physical symptoms are fascinating phenomena to examine. We all experience them, use them as signals to guide our behavior, and usually assume that they accurately represent underlying physiological activity. At the same time, we implicitly know that bodily sensations are often vague, ambiguous, and subject to a variety of interpretations. It is not surprising, then, that there is often a disparity between what we think is going on in our bodies and what is objectively occurring. In short, phenomena such as physical symptoms are the stuff of psychology. My own research into physical symptoms started by accident several years ago. In a hastily devised experiment dealing with the effects of noise on behavior, I had to write a post-experimental questionnaire that would be long enough to allow the experimenter time to calibrate some equipment for a later portion of the study. I included some physical symptoms on the questionnaire as fillers. The experiment was a total failure, with the exception of the symptom reports. People's perceptions of symptoms were easily influenced by our manipulations, even though their actual physiological state had not changed. And so began the present inquiry. Despite the pervasiveness, importance, and sheer amount of time and money devoted to discussing and curing common physical symptoms and sensations, very little empirical work has been devoted to examining the psychological and perceptual factors related to sensory experience. Occa sional papers have tested a specific theory, such as cognitive dissonance, wherein physical symptoms served as an interesting dependent measure."