Repressive Coping and Negative Life Events: The Outcomes of Affective Style on Daily and Narrative Processing

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2011
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Haverford College. Department of Psychology
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Thesis
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Award
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eng
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Haverford users only
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Abstract
Both regulating negative emotion and confronting it in a structured and positive manner have been associated with positive psychological outcomes. This study sought to investigate what sort of balance between regulating and acknowledging such affect is healthiest by looking at the relationship between a repressive coping style, reaction to daily life stressors and the narrative processing of a difficult life event. By looking at these relationships it also examined the degree to which there are distinct psychological channels for processing negative events at the level of short-term responses and the long-term construction of a narrative identity. Results showed that a repressive coping style was largely unrelated to narrative processing, except that repressors narrative contained more positive resolution. This relationship was mediated (at the marginally significant level) by the effect of daily stressors on thinking, suggesting that similar affective tendencies effect processing of events at different levels. In addition, generally reacting less strongly to negative events was associated with more growth and positive resolution in narratives, demonstrating that avoiding negativity at the day to day level is associated with positive outcomes beyond daily affect.
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