Re-appraising stressors from a distance: effects of linguistic distancing on cognitive appraisals and emotional responses to interpersonal conflict.
Cogn Emot
; 37(7): 1281-1289, 2023.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37743734
ABSTRACT
Reflecting on stressors from a detached perspective - a strategy known as distancing - can facilitate emotional recovery. Researchers have theorised that distancing works by enabling reappraisals of negative events, yet few studies have investigated specifically how distancing impacts stressor appraisals. In this experiment, we investigated how participants' (N = 355) emotional experience and appraisals of an interpersonal conflict differed depending on whether they wrote event-reflections from a linguistically immersed (first-person) or distanced (second/third-person) perspective. Partly replicating previous findings, distanced reflection predicted increases in positive affect, but not reductions in negative affect, relative to immersed reflection. Linguistic distancing also predicted increases in motivational congruence appraisals (i.e. perceived advantageousness of the event), but did not influence other appraisal dimensions. We discuss how linguistic distancing may facilitate emotional recovery by illuminating the benefits of stressful experiences, enabling people to "see the good in the bad".
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Emociones
/
Relaciones Interpersonales
Tipo de estudio:
Prognostic_studies
Límite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Cogn Emot
Año:
2023
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Australia