Vine Safer, 2002). Levine and Safer (2002) liken reconstructive memory for emotion to

In turn, a reduction in unfavorable emotion words is linked with constructive outcomes ranging from healthier immune functioning to decreased absenteeism from work to D or in altered sensorium, consent was obtained in the patient improved grade point averages among students (reviewed by Frattaroli, 2006). The authors identified that each ten and 20 years into their marriages, the wives remembered their past ratings as getting much more unfavorable than they really had been. Much more interestingly, the degree to which the wives showed this adverse biasing from the past 10 years in to the marriage was positively correlated with marital satisfaction soon after 20 years.Vine Safer, 2002). Levine and Safer (2002) liken reconstructive memory for emotion to updating a map primarily based on new data and present feelings about a predicament. One arena for which this "map updating" analogy is particularly relevant is that of wellbeing. A main target in remembering feelings should be to uncover which means in emotional events and to incorporate them into one's sense of self in order that a coherent life narrative can be formed (Fivush et al., 2008). An equally important goal in autobiographical remembering is to sustain a coherent and constant view with the self over time (Greenwald, 1980; Conway, 2005). The reconstructive nature of memory nicely lends itself to both title= fnins.2013.00251 of these objectives. As mentioned previously, Conway (2005) notes that reconstructing factual details of an emotional event, for example inside the case from the 9/11 survivor, is in some cases essential to managing PTSD symptoms. Reconstructing how we feel about a specific occasion is also significant for well-being. As one instance, Pennebaker and colleagues have repeatedly demonstrated the therapeutic added benefits of writing about past adverse or traumatic emotional events (e.g., Pennebaker, Mayne Francis, 1997; Pennebaker Seagal, 1999). Written narrative accounts of highly positive and unfavorable events contain a higher proportion of positive and damaging emotion words, respectively (Bohanek, Fivush Walker, 2005). Repeated disclosures on the identical damaging emotional events are associated with a reduction of damaging emotion words. In turn, a reduction in unfavorable emotion words is connected with positive outcomes ranging from healthier immune functioning to decreased absenteeism from work to improved grade point averages amongst students (reviewed by Frattaroli, 2006). A meta-analysis by Frattaroli (2006) suggests that repeated recalling of past damaging feelings results in the extinction with the unfavorable thoughts and feelings related withPhys Life Rev. Author manuscript; obtainable in PMC 2011 March 1.NIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author ManuscriptHolland and KensingerPagenegative events. This proposed exposure and extinction hypothesis may be likened to a type of "map updating;" repeatedly recalling feelings allows people to reconstruct how they really feel about past events, thereby allowing them to integrate unfavorable events into the self-schema (Frattaroli, 2006). As we noted previously (Section four.1.2), in some cases we reconstruct past events (e.g., menstruation) in such a way title= journal.pone.0111391 as to produce them look much more unfavorable than they essentially were. This type of reconstruction can be useful to well-being because it creates the perception of improvement more than time (Ross, 1989). One domain in which such an effect has been demonstrated is the fact that of romantic relationships, in which feelings of appreciate and satisfaction are perceived to raise over time despite the fact that the reported feelings remain somewhat stable (Sprecher, 1999).