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Experiential approach as a moderator of the impact of a positive mood induction procedure
Swails, Jeffrey A.
Swails, Jeffrey A.
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Dissertation
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2019-08
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Abstract
The model of human functioning on which acceptance and commitment therapy is based
(Hayes, Luoma, Bond, Masuda, & Lillis, 2006) has recognized how efforts to control negative
emotions (i.e., experiential avoidance) may contribute to psychological inflexibility, but has
largely overlooked the role that experiential approach in regulating positive affective states might
also play in human suffering. The recently developed Experiential Approach Scale (EAS;
(Swails, Zettle, Burdsal, & Snyder, 2016) suggests that this aspect of experiential control may be
comprised of two independent strategies, Anxious Clinging and Experience Prolonging, that
appear to be positively and inversely related to psychological distress and dysfunction,
respectively. Anxious Clinging involves attempts to sustain positive affective experiences
accompanied by worry or anxiety about losing them, while Experience Prolonging refers to
efforts to savor desired mood states for as long as they might last. The degree to which these two
aspects of experiential approach moderate positive affect in predictable ways was investigated in
the laboratory with a mood induction procedure. Contrary to hypotheses, elevations in positive
mood induced by viewing a film and associated reactions to it did not significantly vary as a
function of the EAS score levels of college student participants (N = 138). Possible reasons for
the overall findings and their implications for further assessment and investigations of
experiential approach as a positive emotion regulation strategy are discussed.
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Thesis (Ph.D.)-- Wichita State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Psychology
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Wichita State University
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Copyright 2018 by Jeffrey Allen Swails
All Rights Reserved