Why Does Coping Require Disclosure?

The Emotional Broadcaster Theory

DAILY TALKING FOLLOWING THE LOMA PRIETA EARTHQUAKE AND THE PERSIAN GULF WAR

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War

Quake

Pennebaker & Harber, 1993

Intra-Personal Reasons to Disclose

Schachter Anxiety and Affiliation Studiesa. Clarify causes of distressb. Validate one's own reactions

Sympathetic Listening as Social Supporta. Making sense of Traumab. Perspective c. Insightd. Belongingness, acceptance

Failure to Disclose can be a Health Risk

a. Prolonged suppression → chronic stress.b. Disclosure reduces illness.

The Emotional Broadcaster Theory

Proximal need to disclose Intra-psychic benefits

Distal result of disclosure Information transfer

PARADOX OF NEED TO DISCLOSE

INJURY REMEDY

Cut finger Blood coagulatesInfection Immune responseToo hot, too cold Sweating, ShiveringForeign object Coughing, tearing, sneezing

Upset psyche Talk to someone

Well-Told Disclosures are the Most Therapeutic

Disclosures that create “movies” in listeners minds predict success in therapy (Bucci, 1997)

Disclosures with best narrative structure advance illness recovery (Harber & Pennebaker, 1992)

Disclosures Benefit Listeners

Testimony therapy (Agger & Jensen 1990)

Gossip is informative (Baumeister et al., 2004)

RATES OF TALKING IN SAN FRANCISCO FOLLOWING THE LOMA PRIETA EARTHQUAKE

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The Compulsion to Disclose

Disclosure Follows Major Events

People Disclose With Minimal Prompting

PEOPLE DISCLOSE EVEN AFTER PROMISING NOT TO

(IF DISCLOSURE NEED IS UNMET)

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Harber & Pennebaker, in prep

Disclosures Can Occur Unconsciously

Ekman & Friesen, 1969

Ekman & Friesen, 1969

Disclosures Can Occur Unconsciously

People disclose against self-interest (Pennebaker, 1990)

The desire to disclose is ancient

The desire to disclose is cross-cultural (Rimé,1995)

PERSONAL NEWS IS WIDELY BROADCASTED

Disclose copiously after major events Disclose with minimal prompting Disclose when asked not to do so Disclose unconsciously Disclose against self-interest Disclosure is cross-cultural Disclosure is ancient

Emotions Propel Disclosures“The Social Telegraph”

The Morgue Study

Harber, K.D & Cohen, D., Jou. Language and Soc. Psych, 2005Participants: 33 undergrads (55% female)

Event: Field trip to UM hospital morgue

Self-reported reactions: 3 days after morgue visit

Story tracking exercise

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Marlow (M) told 3

Ilana (F) told 2

Deb (F) told 0

Max (M) told 1

Gabe (M) told 0

Andrea (F) told 1

Hannah (F ) 624-8324 told 1

Maja (F ) 873-2345 told 0

Lew (M) 927-8743 told 1

Primary Sharing

Secondary Sharing

Tertiary Sharing

Story Sharing Following Morgue Field Trip

Primary Sharing

(Sharing by students)

(n = 33)

Secondary Sharing

(Sharing by students’ Friends)

(n = 32)

Tertiary Sharing

(Sharing by students’ Friends’ Friends)

(n = 27)

Number/rate of sharing 32.00 (97%) 27.00 (82%) 16.00 (48%)

Mean contacts per sharer 6.21 (4.06) 1.46 (1.21) 1.26 ( 1.20)

Total no. contacts this level 205 299 377

Total hearing about event: ≈ 881

Students’ Emotional Reactions and Story Sharing

Primary Sharing

(Sharing by students)

(n = 33)

Secondary Sharing

(Sharing by students’ Friends)

(n = 32)

Tertiary Sharing

(Sharing by students’ Friends’ Friends)

(n = 26)

Students’ reactions .73** .24 .46*

Students’ disclosures .56** .61**

Note: Students’ disclosures represent proxy index of emotional reaction.

My Meeting with a Robot: Diego San Study

http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/8/3852098/first-video-of-ucsd-robot-baby

Violation of Expectations and

Story Travel

Misfortune Vignettes Study(Harber, in prep)

Sample n = 403, 67% female, age = 19.63

“Stories of Misfortune”Teller Upset

Story Unusual

Hal breaks a small desk lamp he bought on sale at K-Mart.No No

Your friend feels very strongly about someone, and plans to propose they move in together. Unexpectedly, this person tells your friend "I think we should cool things off”.

Yes No

Diane finds her window broken and a note tied to a rock. The note says, "Hey Didi, remember me?" She hasn't been called Didi since high school, 5 yrs. ago and 200 miles away.

Yes Yes

Racing to her spa, Jane almost hits a small boy, who is left shaking. A cop stops her, but by flirting Jane gets only a warning. She says she often gets away with stuff like this.

No Yes

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People you toldwould tell

Teller OK, Story Common(broken lamp)Teller Upset, Story Common(romance ends)Teller OK, Story Uncommon(reckless driver, no ticket)Teller Upset, Story Uncommon(Didi and the rock)

Anticipated Sharing of Misfortune Stories, Due to Teller Distress and Story Unusualness

Emotional Broadcaster and History of ViolenceHarber, K.D., & Podolski, P. (in prep)

Disclosures should follow events that violate expectations.

Violent events violate expectations of a just, well-ordered world.

EXCEPT, perhaps, for people who have experienced much violence, aka who have a "history of violence" (HOV)

Predict that HOV will determine whether exposure to violence:

1. Emotionally affects people

2. Motivates them to disclose events to others

3. Affects expectation that their stories will be repeated

Study DesignSample: n = 72, age = 20.71 (3.46), women = 52.70%

Participants completed survey packet including:

1. History of Violence

2. Reactions to Events

3. Individual Difference Measures

a. Differentiation of Emotions

b. Need for Certainty (tolerance for ambiguity)

c. Hope

d. Optimism

e. Social Support Opinions

f. General Background Questions

Reaction to Events How much would

this affect you? Need to Tell

Others? People you Tell

Would Tell Others?

1. Guns fired

2. Drug deals

3. Someone getting beat up

4. Someone getting stabbed

5. Someone getting shot

6. Gangs in your neighborhood

7. Some pull a gun on another

8. People talk about having weapons

9. People with guns/knives near your home

10. People threaten to beat up/hurt someone

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17. Your car/home windows have been smashed

You see/hear:

Results: Affect and HOV

Affected Tell Others HOV

Others Would Tell

Affected .76** .69** -.53**

Tell others .90** -.47**

Others tell -.29*

* = p < .05 ** = P < .01

Results: Individual Difference and HOV Affected Tell Others HOV

Others Would Tell

Diff. of Emotions -.02 .26* .22+ -.03

Need for Certainty .39** .39** .36** -.24*

Hope .07 .14 .22+ .20

Optimism .01 .20+ .14 -.08

Directive Supporter .07 .20+ .33** .10

Nondirective Supporter .20 .32** .29* -.11

+ = p <.10 * = p < .05 ** = P < .01

Discrepancy Theories of Emotion and TraumaEmotions arise from schema violationsEmotions alert us when schemas (beliefs) and experience (facts) conflictEmotions stay active until schemas and experience difference is resolvedTraumas arise when fundamental beliefs are violated by experience

World is well-orderedWorld is justSelf is good, competent, worthy

Changing fundamental beliefs very hard, people resist doing so

Victim blaming, traumatic amnesia, emotional dissociation

Listeners don't want to hear stories that offend their own basic beliefs.Trauma victims in compound double bind: internal and external

resistance to revealing trauma.

Writing and Traumatic Recovery

Writing about negative events may boost morale. How so?

Active coping

Purposeful activity Improved self-image Psychologically and socially safe

Does Writing Actually Heal Traumatic Memory?

Rimé: No, it doesn't. Ss write/don't write about trauma. X days later return, asked to think about trauma, then rate how upsetting it is to recall trauma. No differences between expt. groups.

This being so, what good is writing?

Harber & Pennebaker: No claims about the potency of intentionally-recovered memories. Instead, focus on their ability to spontaneously intrude.

Real question: Does writing reduce thought intrusions?

Yes -- Klein & Boals, 2001. Expressive writing reduces intrusions.

Diego San

Klien & Boals

Disclosure and Victim blaming