A multi-wave test of self-affirmation versus emotionally expressive writing

ABSTRACT

Testing self-affirmation writing against well-established alternatives is an important step in validating self-affirmation writing as an empirically informed clinical exercise. Therefore, this multi-wave study examined the effects of two theoretically distinct writing exercises: self-affirmation and emotionally expressive writing. It was hypothesized that, compared to emotionally expressive writing, self-affirmation writing would elicit higher positive mood and lower negative mood while decreasing psychological distress over time. After completing pretest measures of distress, 152 undergraduates were randomly assigned to a self-affirmation or emotionally expressive writing task. Participants completed the assigned writing intervention three times: at Session 1, 1 week later at Session 2, and 1 week after that at Session 3. Mood and distress were assessed across four points in time: immediately after the first writing task (Session 1), 1 week later after the second writing task (Session 2), after the third writing task (Session 3), and 1 week following Session 3 (Session 4). A growth curve indicated that at Session 2, those completing self-affirmation writing reported lower distress than those completing emotionally expressive writing, and this difference did not significantly increase or decrease in subsequent sessions. The difference at Session 2 was more pronounced for those reporting lower distress than for those reporting higher distress.

KEYWORDS:

• Self-affirmation
• expressive writing
• distress
• mood
• multi-wave

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Daniel G. Lannin

Daniel G. Lannin is an assistant professor of clinical/counseling psychology at Illinois State University. His research focuses on examining how psychological theory can be translated into activities that bolster positive functioning and resilience.

David L. Vogel

David L. Vogel is a professor in the department of psychology at Iowa State University. His professional interests focus on stigma and stereotyping as they are applied to psychological health and the decision to seek therapy. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and has given 95 national conference presentations.

Jeffrey H. Kahn

Jeffrey H. Kahn received his Ph.D. from Iowa State University in 1997. He is currently a professor of psychology at Illinois State University. His primary research interests are emotional disclosure and application of quantitative methods to counseling psychology.

Rachel E. Brenner

Rachel E. Brenner is an assistant professor of counseling psychology at the University at Albany, State University of New York. She obtained a PhD in counseling psychology and graduate certificate in quantitative psychology from Iowa State University in 2018. 

Patrick J. Heath

Patrick J. Heath is a doctoral student in counseling psychology at Iowa State University. He received his Master’s degree from the University of Minnesota. His research focuses on psychological help-seeking barriers and how cultural factors influence help-seeking decisions.

Max Guyll

Max Guyll is an associate professor in the department of psychology at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.