After a bad day: think it over, or say it?
· Source: Lyubomirsky, Sousa & Dickerhoof, JPSP, 2006
After a bad day, most of us replay it in our heads. Researchers asked students to spend fifteen minutes, three days in a row, on the worst thing that had happened to them. Some wrote about it. Some talked about it into a recorder. Some only thought about it. A month later, the ones who wrote or talked were more satisfied with their lives. Thinking alone didn't help. Putting it into words, out loud or on paper, helps you put the day in order.