The Impact of Communication Savoring on Emotions Dependent upon Closeness in a Relationship

Alberts, Jacelyn

The Impact of Communication Savoring on Emotions Dependent upon Closeness in a Relationship

Persistent URL

https://dspace.allegheny.edu/handle/10456/50712

Author(s)

Alberts, Jacelyn

Date Issued

April 6, 2020

Abstract

Social emotion regulation is a useful tool when a situation becomes too emotionally taxing or stressful for a person to handle on their own. Communication savoring is a mechanism by which people can remember and appreciate an experience with another person, usually in the form of a memory. The other person in the memory is often a close family member, friend, or significant other. The present research examined the impact of communication savoring on emotions dependent upon closeness in a relationship. Participants completed emotion questionnaires and then were assigned to one of four conditions in which the relationship was either close or familiar and communication savoring was either present or absent. They were then given five minutes to perform a memory recall task given their assigned condition. Finally, participants completed the emotion questionnaires again after the memory recall. The hypotheses were that participants would have an increase in positive emotions when recalling a memory with someone they were close to and when recalling a memory using communication savoring. However, the results did not support these hypotheses such that there was little change in positive emotions from before and after the memory recall. In some instances, there was an increase in negative emotions after memory recall when communication savoring was used. Overall, more research is needed to determine the best modality for savoring to successfully regulate emotions, specifically increasing positive emotions.

Major

Neuroscience

Psychology

Honors

Neuroscience, 2020

Psychology, 2020

First Reader(s)

Knupsky, Aimee C.