Why Does Expressive Writing Affect Emotion? Considering the Impact of Valence and Cognitive Processing

• Published in: Canadian journal of behavioural science 2020-04, Vol.52 (2), p.85-96
• Main Authors: Maslej, Marta M., Srikanth, Nikethana, Froentjes, Liesbeth, Andrews, Paul W.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Affective Valence; Cognitive Processes; Emotions; Female; Happiness; Human; Male; Negative Emotions; Sadness; Student writing; Studies; Test Construction; Well Being; Written Communication
• ISSN: 0008-400X; 1879-2669
• DOI: 10.1037/cbs0000167

Expressive writing (EW) involves writing one's thoughts and feelings about negative events or problems. Although EW benefits well-being in the long term, it produces transient increases in negative emotions. These emotional changes may evidence emotional and cognitive processing, facilitating EW's therapeutic effects; however, it is unclear why they occur. We explore 2 possibilities: Writing about negative topics produces congruent emotions (valence), or it involves deep or effortful processing, which is maintained by negative emotion (cognitive processing). In a pilot study, we demonstrated that emotional changes during EW do not depend on the topic's personal nature. In our primary study, participants considered a scenario involving a decision between 2 jobs balanced on positive and negative attributes. This job scenario was framed positively (as a promotion) or negatively (as a job loss). The perceived valence of these scenarios was confirmed in a second pilot study. Participants were randomized to EW about the positive scenario (P-EW; n = 32), the negative scenario (N-EW; n = 29), or control writing (CW; n = 36). Compared with before writing, N-EW participants became sadder, less happy, and less calm during writing, suggesting an effect of valence. P-EW participants did not experience a change in sadness, but they became less happy than they were before writing. Our findings may reflect a combined effect: A decrease in happiness during P-EW may be related to cognitive processing, with the topic's positive valence mitigating changes in sadness. We discuss our study's limitations and implications for understanding emotional changes during EW. L'écriture expressive consiste à évoquer des événements négatifs ou des problèmes en écrivant ses pensées et ses émotions. Bien que l'écriture expressive profite au mieux-être à long terme, elle entraîne des augmentations transitoires des émotions négatives. Ces changements émotionnels peuvent attester de processus émotionnels et cognitifs et, ainsi, faciliter les effets thérapeutiques de l'écriture expressive; cependant, il n'apparaît pas clairement pourquoi ils se manifestent. Nous explorons deux possibilités : soit le fait d'écrire sur des sujets négatifs produit des émotions parallèles (valence), soit une telle activité suppose un traitement approfondi ou volontaire, lequel est maintenu par des émotions négatives (traitement cognitif). Dans la cadre d'une étude pilote, nous avons démontré que les changements émo