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Published on: March 1, 2017
Power of a Few Vagrant Words: Effects of Direct and Indirect Suggestions for Self-Representation in Art-Based Online
Zsuzsanna Geréb Valachiné1,2, Katalin Varga2, Renáta Cserjési2
1Budapest Doctoral School of Psychology, Eötvös Lóránd University, Budapest, Hungary.
Abstract:
This study compares two groups of university students with differing instructions participating in an object drawing task as a part of an art therapy-based self-help online intervention. The intervention aimed to help participants enhance positive mood and subjective feeling of self-control and reduce negative mood. The object task contained suggestive elements in the instructions similar to self-hypnosis with an indirect and a direct way of formulation. Quantitative (positive affect and negative affect scale and Self-Assessment Manikin scale) and qualitative methods (text and picture rating) were used to investigate the difference between the outcome effects on the two groups. The results found a significant decrease in negative mood for indirect suggestion, while a significant increase of positive mood for the direct suggestion condition. Based on qualitative analyses, findings indicated that hidden implications in the art-making instructions modified the chosen imaginary and emotional changes related to art-making. Suggestions in the instructions can make a difference in one's mood and this should also be considered while designing guidelines for self-hypnosis.
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