The effects of emotional expression on adjustment to stressful events.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Previous research has revealed that expressing emotions by writing and talking about stressful events can improve health and psychological well-being. Research also suggests that expression is affected by the social context, and by cultural and gender values. The first study of the dissertation thus tested the theory that expression would be used more, and would be more effective in improving adjustment, when it was congruent with cultural and gender values about expression and more accepted by important others such as family. Although this study found many of the expected gender and ethnic differences in the social context of expression, unexpected results suggested that talking to friends about stressful situations was more effective for Chinese-Americans (for whom expression was less accepted) than for Caucasians. These results suggested that an expansion in the theory was needed. This revised theory, which was investigated in the second study, held that expression can improve adjustment regardless of ethnicity, but that the cultural context affects which methods of expression are most effective in improving adjustment. The second study tested whether a particular method of expression (expressive writing) was more effective in improving adjustment to family conflict when there were fewer culturally approved opportunities to use other methods of expression (i.e. talking to friends or family). Evidence suggested that the social context did influence the effectiveness of written disclosure, but in complex, sometimes unexpected ways. Discussion focused on the circumstances under which written expression is likely to be an effective intervention, on its limitations, and on the influence of the social and cultural context on expression.