ABSTRACT

Validation communicates that another’s experiences make sense and are understood, while invalidation dismisses the validity of an individual’s experience. Validation has the potential to preserve positive affect in the face of interpersonal stressors. We aimed to assess and replicate the effect of validation/invalidation on changes in affective experiences. We conducted three experimental studies in which participants were randomized to have their experiences of anger either validated or invalidated. We examined the effects of condition on changes in positive and negative affect as well as global mood. Participants in the validation conditions reported lower decreases in positive affect and mood over the course of the experiment compared to participants in the invalidation conditions. We did not find significant between-condition differences on negative affect. These studies highlight the importance of validation as a communication strategy to buffer against decreases in positive affective experiences after a stressor.

摘要

确认传达了另一个人的经验是有意义的并且被理解，而无效则否定了个人经验的有效性。面对人际压力源，验证有可能保持积极的影响。我们旨在评估和复制验证/无效对情感体验变化的影响。我们进行了三项实验研究，参与者被随机分组​​，让他们的愤怒经历得到验证或无效。我们检查了条件对积极和消极情绪以及全球情绪变化的影响。与无效条件下的参与者相比，验证条件下的参与者报告说，在实验过程中，积极情绪和情绪的下降幅度较小。我们没有发现负面影响的显着条件间差异。这些研究强调了验证作为一种沟通策略的重要性，以缓冲压力源后积极情感体验的减少。