Self-esteem and public self-consciousness moderate the emotional impact of expressive writing about experiences with bias

Abstract

Expressive autobiographical writing has generally been shown to have positive psychological effects, as well as health benefits. The current study examined whether dispositional factors moderate the emotional benefits of expressive writing about personal experiences with social bias. Participants (N=154 undergraduate students) completed personality measures one week prior to writing about a personal experience being the target of bias. Results indicated that self-esteem, public self-consciousness, and need for cognition may play an important role in predicting individuals' reactions to communicating their own experience with social bias. Specifically, higher scores on the Public Self-Consciousness Scale were correlated with more negative emotions (measured with the PANAS), whereas higher scores on the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale were correlated with more positive emotions. Higher scores on the Need for Cognition Scale were associated with heightened positive and negative reactions. Thus, personality variables appear to be an important moderator of the short-term outcomes of expressive writing.