scholarly journals Temporal distancing during the COVID‐19 pandemic: Letter writing with future self can mitigate negative affect

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuta Chishima ◽  
I‐Ting Huai‐Ching Liu ◽  
Anne E. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Negative Affect ◽  
Letter Writing ◽  
Future Self

scholarly journals Temporal Distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic: Letter Writing with Future Self can Mitigate Negative Affect

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuta Chishima ◽  
I-Ting Huai-Ching Liu ◽  
Anne E Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Negative Affect ◽  
Mental Distress ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Letter Writing ◽  
Temporal Perspective ◽  
Future Selves ◽  
The World ◽  
Future Self ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

Novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is spreading across the world, threatening not only physical health but also psychological well-being. We reasoned that a broadened temporal perspective may attenuate current mental distress and tested a letter-writing manipulation designed to connect people to their post-COVID-19 future selves. Participants were randomly assigned to either send a letter to their future self (letter-to-future), send a letter to present self from the perspective of future self (letter-from-future), or a control condition. Participants in both letter-writing conditions showed immediate decrease in negative affect and increase in positive affect relative to the control condition. These effects were mediated by temporal distancing from the current situation. These findings suggest that taking a broader temporal perspective can be achieved by letter-writing with a future self and may offer an effective means of regulating negative affect in a stressful present time such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

scholarly journals Temporal Distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic: Letter Writing with Future Self can Mitigate Negative Affect

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuta Chishima ◽  
I-Ting Huai-Ching Liu ◽  
Anne E Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Negative Affect ◽  
Mental Distress ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Letter Writing ◽  
Temporal Perspective ◽  
Future Selves ◽  
The World ◽  
Future Self ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

Novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is spreading across the world, threatening not only physical health but also psychological well-being. We reasoned that a broadened temporal perspective may attenuate current mental distress and tested a letter-writing manipulation designed to connect people to their post-COVID-19 future selves. Participants were randomly assigned to either send a letter to their future self (letter-to-future), send a letter to present self from the perspective of future self (letter-from-future), or a control condition. Participants in both letter-writing conditions showed immediate decrease in negative affect and increase in positive affect relative to the control condition. These effects were mediated by temporal distancing from the current situation. These findings suggest that taking a broader temporal perspective can be achieved by letter-writing with a future self and may offer an effective means of regulating negative affect in a stressful present time such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

A Longitudinal Posthumous Study of Letter Writing in a Late Elderly Case

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-33
Author(s):  
Angel Ball ◽  
Jean Neils-Strunjas ◽  
Kate Krival
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Elderly Woman ◽  
Semantic Content ◽  
Cognitive Status ◽  
Letter Writing ◽  
Linguistic Performance ◽  
Errors Analysis ◽  
Normal Status

This study is a posthumous longitudinal study of consecutive letters written by an elderly woman from age 89 to 93. Findings reveal a consistent linguistic performance during the first 3 years, supporting “normal” status for late elderly writing. She produced clearly written cursive form, intact semantic content, and minimal spelling and stroke errors. A decline in writing was observed in the last 6–9 months of the study and an analysis revealed production of clausal fragmentation, decreasing semantic clarity, and a higher frequency of spelling, semantic, and stroke errors. Analysis of writing samples can be a valuable tool in documenting a change in cognitive status differentiated from normal late aging.

Different Future Time Perspectives Interplay in Predicting Life Satisfaction

GeroPsych ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 103-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minjie Lu ◽  
Angel Y. Li ◽  
Helene H. Fung ◽  
Klaus Rothermund ◽  
Frieder R. Lang
Keyword(s):  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Time Perspective ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Future Time Perspective ◽  
Hong Kong Chinese ◽  
Future Time ◽  
Time Perspectives ◽  
Time Extension ◽  
Future Self ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract. This study addresses prior mixed findings on the relationship between future time perspective (FTP) and well-being as well as examines the associations between three aspects of FTP and life satisfaction in the health and friendship domains. 159 Germans, 97 US Americans, and 240 Hong Kong Chinese, aged 19–86 years, completed a survey on future self-views (valence) and life satisfaction. They also reported the extent to which they perceived future time as expanded vs. limited (time extension) and meaningful (openness). Findings revealed that individuals with more positive future self-views had higher satisfaction. However, those who perceived their future as more meaningful or perceived more time in their future reported higher satisfaction even when future self-views were less positive.

Measures of RSA Suppression, Attentional Control, and Negative Affect Predict Self-Ratings of Executive Functions

2011 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 164-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Healy ◽  
Aaron Treadwell ◽  
Mandy Reagan
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Heart Rate ◽  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Negative Affect ◽  
Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia ◽  
Attentional Control ◽  
Executive Processes ◽  
Sinus Arrhythmia ◽  
Low Levels

The current study was an attempt to determine the degree to which the suppression of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and attentional control were influential in the ability to engage various executive processes under high and low levels of negative affect. Ninety-four college students completed the Stroop Test while heart rate was being recorded. Estimates of the suppression of RSA were calculated from each participant in response to this test. The participants then completed self-ratings of attentional control, negative affect, and executive functioning. Regression analysis indicated that individual differences in estimates of the suppression of RSA, and ratings of attentional control were associated with the ability to employ executive processes but only when self-ratings of negative affect were low. An increase in negative affect compromised the ability to employ these strategies in the majority of participants. The data also suggest that high attentional control in conjunction with attenuated estimates of RSA suppression may increase the ability to use executive processes as negative affect increases.

The Blank in the Mind Questionnaire (BIMQ)

2009 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Despina Moraitou ◽  
Anastasia Efklides
Keyword(s):  
Negative Affect ◽  
Convergent Validity ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Confirmatory Factor ◽  
Memory Failure ◽  
Temporary Memory ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Lack Of Knowledge

Metacognitive awareness of memory failure may take the form of the “blank in the mind” (BIM) experience. The BIM experience informs the person of a temporary memory failure and takes the form of a disruption in the flow of consciousness, of a moment of no content in awareness. The aim of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Blank in the Mind Questionnaire (BIMQ) designed to tap the BIM experience and differentiate it from other memory-related experiences, such as searching but not having in memory a piece of information (i.e., lack of knowledge). The participants (N = 493) were 249 younger adults (18–30 years old) and 244 older adults (63–89 years old) of both genders. Confirmatory factor analysis applied to the BIMQ confirmed a three-factor model with interrelations between the factors. The first factor represented the experience of lack of knowledge, the second represented the experience of BIM, and the third the person’s negative affective reactions to memory failure. The internal consistency of the three factors ranged from Cronbach’s α = .80 to .88. Convergent validity was shown with correlations of the BIMQ factors with self-report measures of cognitive and memory failures, and to the negative-affect subscale of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS).

The Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance of Positive and Negative Affect

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 265-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohsen Joshanloo ◽  
Ali Bakhshi
Keyword(s):  
Negative Affect ◽  
Measurement Invariance ◽  
Factor Structure ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Positive And Negative Affect ◽  
Cultural Groups ◽  
Invariance Testing ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Scalar Invariance ◽  
Gender Groups

Abstract. This study investigated the factor structure and measurement invariance of the Mroczek and Kolarz’s scales of positive and negative affect in Iran (N = 2,391) and the USA (N = 2,154), and across gender groups. The two-factor model of affect was supported across the groups. The results of measurement invariance testing confirmed full metric and partial scalar invariance of the scales across cultural groups, and full metric and full scalar invariance across gender groups. The results of latent mean analysis revealed that Iranians scored lower on positive affect and higher on negative affect than Americans. The analyses also showed that American men scored significantly lower than American women on negative affect. The significance and implications of the results are discussed.

Feeling Like a Burden

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 219-238
Author(s):  
James H. Wirth ◽  
Ashley Batts Allen ◽  
Emily M. Zitek
Keyword(s):  
Negative Affect ◽  
Poor Performance ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Social Costs ◽  
Negative Outcomes ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Self Compassion

Abstract. We examined the negative outcomes, particularly social costs that result when a person harms their group by performing poorly, and whether self-compassion could buffer against these negative outcomes. In Studies 1 and 2, participants performed poorly and harmed their group or performed equal to their group. Harmful poor-performing participants felt more burdensome, experienced more negative affect, felt more ostracized, anticipated more exclusion, and felt lowered self-esteem than equal-performing participants. Studies 3 and 4 disentangled poor performance from harming a group. Poor-performing participants either harmed the group or caused no harm. Harmful poor-performing participants felt more burdensome and anticipated more exclusion, indicating the additional social consequences of a harmful poor performance over a non-harmful performance. Across studies, trait self-compassion was associated with reduced negative effects.

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