Venting it out: The effect of online expressive writing on emotional self-efficacy mediated by perceived social support

• Main Authors: Dytoc, Bertrand C., Eridio, Casey Margaret S., Neri, Kristiana Eleanor V., Sanchez, Laren C.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2018
• Subjects: Writing; Emotions
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/10103
• Institution: De La Salle University

The aim of this study is to see whether online expressive writing can increase one's emotional self-efficacy as mediated by perceived social support. Using the expressive writing paradigm, an experiment was conducted on 210 college students. The participants were divided into three groups as they were instructed to do expressive writing in a public feed, do expressive writing in an online private diary, or be a part of a control group. The effects were measured with emotional self-efficacy and perceived social support scales. The studies findings were that there is no significant difference in emotional self-efficacy scores between the three groups. This could imply that while microblogging is often used to release emotional distress, it is not effective in improving one's emotional self-efficacy.