| Abstract: | 173 undergraduates completed an event-outcome appraisal questionnaire designed to make salient positive and negative thoughts about the outcomes of recent stressful events. Ss' well-being was assessed both immediately after the salience manipulation and again 8 wks later. Results show that positive thinking increased the well-being that Ss reported immediately after their thoughts were assessed but was unrelated to the well-being they reported after the 8-wk delay. It is suggested that although thinking positively about past event outcomes may temporarily lead to perceptions of increased well-being while the thoughts are salient, it has no enduring influence. In contrast, negative thinking was associated with lower reported well-being not only when the thoughts were salient but after a delay as well. Psychological effects associated with both types of thinking were due mostly to self-relevant thoughts rather than to externally relevant ones. Negative thinking about prior stressor outcomes appeared to increase vulnerability to the impact of later ones on several aspects of well-being. It is concluded that the absence of negative thinking, rather than the presence of positive thinking, is beneficial. (47 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
