Pennebaker & Francis, 1996: Writing about deepest thoughts and emotions about college decreased doctor visits and improved GPA among first-year students
Reference:
Pennebaker, J. W., & Francis, M. E. (1996). Cognitive, emotional, and language processes in disclosure. Cognition & Emotion, 10(6), 601-626.
Download PDFSummary:
Asking first-year college students to write about their “deepest emotions and thoughts” about coming to college for 20-minutes/day on 3 consecutive days in the first semester reduced doctor visits and improved grade-point-average, relative to students who wrote about trivial topics.
Psychological Process:
What Desired Meaning is At Stake?
What is the Person Trying to Understand?
Selves (My Own and Others')Approach to Desired Meaning
What about it?
Changing beliefs about emotions, states, and the valence of the self-conceptHow?
Psychological Question Addressed
Are current or upcoming emotions, states, and experiences negative and undermining?Are current or upcoming emotions, states, and experiences negative and undermining?Psychological Question Addressed
Are current or upcoming emotions, states, and experiences negative and undermining?Psychological Process 2:
Psychological Process 3:
Social Area:
Education; Health
Intervention Technique:
Active reflection, on negative experiences