Psychology Journal Article Review - Research Paper Example

Psychology Article Review This article focuses on the connection between emotion and coping measures as far as trait resistance in the face of psychological trauma in martial relationships, such as the death of a spouse. Previous research has supported that positive emotions and other positive aspects throughout life can affect trait resistance, the ability to recuperate from a setback. The researchers of this article explored the connection between positive emotions affecting trait resistance as far as dealing with the widowing of a spouse and as a result of martial satisfaction during the course of the marriage.

In context of martial satisfaction, both extremes have been noted in research. For example, if the marriage was problematic and had issues during it’s course, the death of the individual might bring stress relief to the widow, whereas a close, successful marriage would bring a lot of psychological distress to the individual. The methodology used for this study was a survey research method. Questionnaires were administered via telephone and in order to keep the participants randomized, they used random digit dialing.

The sample was supposed to represent the United States, therefore trying to increase the generalizability of the study. The longitudinal study took place from 1996-2004. Of the entire sample, 132 adults experienced the death of a spouse. In this case, these people were conducted with a follow up interview. This made the initial survey participants serve as the control group and those with the death the experimental group. A Likert-type scale was used to assess attitudes toward martial satisfaction and the Measurement Instrument for Primary and Secondary Control Strategies to assess for trait resistance.

The control measure used to attempt to control confounding results was in individuals suffering from depression, in which another type of survey was used. The main statistical analysis that was used in this study was t-tests and correlational methods in order to test for significance. The statistics showed that there was significance dealing with positive emotion as a form of developing trait resistance in widows. One thing that they noted, which could have affected results, was that depression showed up as a statistical determining factor.

It was also shown that those who were able to cope and deal with the emotional loss of a loved one due to trait resilience and martial satisfaction were able to bring about happier and more positive emotions later on in life after the event occurred. Another big statistical determining factor was the results that depression played in the data in that it showed up in cross correlational calculations in all variables of the experiment. The conclusion of the research showed that there was significance behind the experimental design that was chosen to look at the study.

It showed that the results of the experiment supported previous theories and studies that linked trait resistance to positive emotion and the effect that martial satisfaction has on the feeling of the widow after the death of the spouse. Trait resistance is affected by the positivity in ones life. Depression also impacts the ability for a person to move on past the effects of the loss of a loved one. This was a good study to conduct. The results from this experiment seem to have good external reliability and good generalizability.

Applications of this research can lead to new counseling techniques, which can be developed in order to deal with grieving as well as how to prepare people to live healthy lives in terms of a loved one having a terminal illness. The data and theories behind the theory also have parsiomony, in that the theory and hypothesis regarding this phenomenon are simple and easily explain the correlation and basis of the experiment.