Date of Award
12-22-2015
Publication Type
Master Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Department
Psychology
Keywords
Change Process, Expressive Writing, LIWC, Word Counts
Supervisor
Pascual-Leone, Antonio
Rights
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Abstract
The current study examined the use of commonly used word categories, less commonly used word categories, and change in word use over time in an expressive writing task. A sample of 250 undergraduate students from an archival study who were still experiencing unresolved feelings wrote about a targeted distressing experience for 15 minutes on each of three consecutive days. Narratives were analyzed using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count Program (LIWC). Results showed that six word categories predicted change in outcome, namely first-person singular pronouns, words related to causation, inhibition, certainty, past-tense verbs, and word count. Words related to cognitive processing as well as past-tense verbs changed in their usage over the three writing sessions, but their rate of change did not predict outcome. Word usage also differed by writing condition. The results confirm the importance of word categories commonly analyzed but also highlight the importance of time orientation.
Recommended Citation
Morrison, Orrin-Porter, "Do the Words People Write Capture Their Process of Change" (2015). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 5655.
https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/5655