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Thinking Back about a Positive Event: The Impact of Processing Style on Positive Affect

The manner in which individuals recall an autobiographical positive life event has affective consequences. Two studies addressed the processing styles during positive memory recall in a non-clinical sample. Participants retrieved a positive memory, which was self-generated (Study 1, n = 70) or exper...

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Autores principales: Nelis, Sabine, Holmes, Emily A., Palmieri, Rosa, Bellelli, Guglielmo, Raes, Filip
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4353183/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25806003
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00003
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author Nelis, Sabine
Holmes, Emily A.
Palmieri, Rosa
Bellelli, Guglielmo
Raes, Filip
author_facet Nelis, Sabine
Holmes, Emily A.
Palmieri, Rosa
Bellelli, Guglielmo
Raes, Filip
author_sort Nelis, Sabine
collection PubMed
description The manner in which individuals recall an autobiographical positive life event has affective consequences. Two studies addressed the processing styles during positive memory recall in a non-clinical sample. Participants retrieved a positive memory, which was self-generated (Study 1, n = 70) or experimenter-chosen (i.e., academic achievement, Study 2, n = 159), followed by the induction of one of three processing styles (between-subjects): in Study 1, a “concrete/imagery” vs. “abstract/verbal” processing style was compared. In Study 2, a “concrete/imagery,” “abstract/verbal,” and “comparative/verbal” processing style were compared. The processing of a personal memory in a concrete/imagery-based way led to a larger increase in positive affect compared to abstract/verbal processing in Study 1, as well as compared to comparative/verbal thinking in Study 2. Results of Study 2 further suggest that it is making unfavorable verbal comparisons that may hinder affective benefits to positive memories (rather than general abstract/verbal processing per se). The comparative/verbal thinking style failed to lead to improvements in positive affect, and with increasing levels of depressive symptoms it had a more negative impact on change in positive affect. We found no evidence that participant’s tendency to have dampening thoughts in response to positive affect in daily life contributed to the affective impact of positive memory recall. The results support the potential for current trainings in boosting positive memories and mental imagery, and underline the search for parameters that determine at times deleterious outcomes of abstract/verbal memory processing in the face of positive information.
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spelling pubmed-43531832015-03-24 Thinking Back about a Positive Event: The Impact of Processing Style on Positive Affect Nelis, Sabine Holmes, Emily A. Palmieri, Rosa Bellelli, Guglielmo Raes, Filip Front Psychiatry Psychiatry The manner in which individuals recall an autobiographical positive life event has affective consequences. Two studies addressed the processing styles during positive memory recall in a non-clinical sample. Participants retrieved a positive memory, which was self-generated (Study 1, n = 70) or experimenter-chosen (i.e., academic achievement, Study 2, n = 159), followed by the induction of one of three processing styles (between-subjects): in Study 1, a “concrete/imagery” vs. “abstract/verbal” processing style was compared. In Study 2, a “concrete/imagery,” “abstract/verbal,” and “comparative/verbal” processing style were compared. The processing of a personal memory in a concrete/imagery-based way led to a larger increase in positive affect compared to abstract/verbal processing in Study 1, as well as compared to comparative/verbal thinking in Study 2. Results of Study 2 further suggest that it is making unfavorable verbal comparisons that may hinder affective benefits to positive memories (rather than general abstract/verbal processing per se). The comparative/verbal thinking style failed to lead to improvements in positive affect, and with increasing levels of depressive symptoms it had a more negative impact on change in positive affect. We found no evidence that participant’s tendency to have dampening thoughts in response to positive affect in daily life contributed to the affective impact of positive memory recall. The results support the potential for current trainings in boosting positive memories and mental imagery, and underline the search for parameters that determine at times deleterious outcomes of abstract/verbal memory processing in the face of positive information. Frontiers Media S.A. 2015-03-09 /pmc/articles/PMC4353183/ /pubmed/25806003 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00003 Text en Copyright © 2015 Nelis, Holmes, Palmieri, Bellelli and Raes. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychiatry
Nelis, Sabine
Holmes, Emily A.
Palmieri, Rosa
Bellelli, Guglielmo
Raes, Filip
Thinking Back about a Positive Event: The Impact of Processing Style on Positive Affect
title Thinking Back about a Positive Event: The Impact of Processing Style on Positive Affect
title_full Thinking Back about a Positive Event: The Impact of Processing Style on Positive Affect
title_fullStr Thinking Back about a Positive Event: The Impact of Processing Style on Positive Affect
title_full_unstemmed Thinking Back about a Positive Event: The Impact of Processing Style on Positive Affect
title_short Thinking Back about a Positive Event: The Impact of Processing Style on Positive Affect
title_sort thinking back about a positive event: the impact of processing style on positive affect
topic Psychiatry
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4353183/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25806003
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00003
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