In a recent paper, three studies looked at how accepting negative thoughts could contribute to psychological health. The first two studies investigated the effects of acceptance over the short term. The third study examined these effects over a six month period.
In this third study, participants were 222 community-dwelling adults who had experienced a stressful event within the 3 months preceding recruitment to the study. The sample consisted of a variety of ages, ethnicities, and SES (socio-economic status).
At the start of the study, the participants reported the extent to which they habitually accepted their mental experiences using validated questionnaires. For the next fourteen days, the participants kept daily diaries of their emotional responses to daily stressors. Finally, six months after the diary assessment, they completed measures of psychological health as well as a measure of the stress they had experienced in the preceding six months, using validated questionnaires.
The researchers found that participants who habitually accepted their mental experiences had better psychological health than those who did not (B = 0.37). And this relationship was negatively mediated by their negative emotions during daily stressors (B = -0.25). This means that those who habitually accepted their emotions and thoughts experienced fewer negative emotions which led to better psychological health (B = - 0.91). And this was irrespective of gender, ethnicity, or SES.
“It turns out that how we approach our own negative emotional reactions is really important for our overall well-being.
People who accept these emotions without judging or trying to change them are able to cope with their stress more successfully.”
Reference:
Ford, B. Q., Lam, P., John, O. P., & Mauss, I. B. (2018). The Psychological Health Benefits of Accepting Negative Emotions and Thoughts: Laboratory, Diary, and Longitudinal Evidence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 115, 1075–1092. doi:10.1037/pspp0000157