Expressive writing as a practice against work stress: An experimental study

Abstract

This study examines the effectiveness of expressive writing in reducing work stress. Expressive writing involves structured written exercises of self-disclosure for cognitive and affective processing of stressful experiences over several writing sessions. Using a 3x3 mixed design, we examined the effects of the intervention on work stress as well as work-related motivation and attitudes in 62 German participants. We found a sex-specific effect in the significant reduction of exhaustion in men in the experimental group. In contrast, women in the control group showed significantly higher levels of exhaustion. This effect was not found for women in the experimental group. Despite the limitations of our research in terms of sample differences in baseline levels, our research identifies an alleviating effect of expressive writing on emotional exhaustion as the core facet of burnout. Future research should specifically select individuals with higher levels of stress to address the limitations mentioned.