Effects of One-Session Expressive Writing Followed by Perspective-Taking of an Accepting Other on Self-Acceptance and Mental Health

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of expressive writing followed by perspective taking. Participants first engaged in expressive writing about negative past events and then evaluated these events and themselves from the perspective of a close, accepting person. This group showed significant improvements in positive self-appraisal regarding the events immediately after the intervention, along with significant improvements in self-acceptance and mental health at a one-week follow-up. Notably, such effects were not observed in the control group, which engaged in a single expressive writing session.