"Mind-Body Interactions in Writing (M-BW): Psychophysiological and linguistic synchronous correlates of expressive writing" research project has been launched on the 1st April 2017, funded by BIAL Foundation (PT/FB/BL-2016-312).
Mind-Body Interactions in Writing explores the real time psychophysiological and linguistic markers of expressive writing by measuring electrodermal activity, facial muscle activity, heart activity, handwriting, and emotional words’ usage, that may improve understanding of expressive writing healing effects.
Expressive writing is particular form of writing in which a person engages in narrating a personal deeply charged emotional event, either negative (e.g., a trauma) or positive (e.g., a major achievement). Over the last thirty years, a wealth of research, championed by Pennebaker, has consistently shown that expressive writing triggers a considerable number of benefits on health, psychological well-being, and personal growth.
Despite the numerous healing effects the mechanism through which expressive writing operates is still poorly understood. In this project, we suggest that mind-body interactions during writing, as revealed by an exploration of psychophysiological indexes and linguistic markers, might be instructive to further understanding of how expressive writing operates.
"Mind-Body Interactions in Writing (M-BW): Psychophysiological and linguistic synchronous correlates of expressive writing" is funded by BIAL Foundation (PT/FB/BL-2016-312) and is being developed by researchers from University of Porto, namely from the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences (FPCEUP) and from the Faculty of Sciences (FCUP), and has a duration of 3 years.