Storytelling in Reappraisal: How Narratives Can Change Emotion

Emotion regulation strategies, including cognitive reappraisal, are essential for maintaining psychological well-being. While prior work has demonstrated the effectiveness of reappraisal and begun to dig into different specific aspects such as the goals and structure of reappraisals, little is known about how the narrative quality of generated reappraisals impacts their success. The present, preregistered study investigated whether the quality of reappraisal narratives is associated with decreases in negative emotion following reappraisal. Participants across two studies (N = 342) wrote about a recent stressor and then reappraised the event by writing a redemption narrative. Narratives were rated for qualities such as cohesion, fluency, and story arc. Results from one sample (Study 2) indicated that higher-quality narratives were significantly associated with greater decreases in negative emotion. Trait-level storytelling ability was also associated with reappraisal effectiveness. However, these findings were not replicated in a separate sample (Study 1), suggesting potential sample-specific effects. Exploratory analyses identified cohesion and story arc as particularly relevant features in effective reappraisal narratives. These findings suggest that narrative structure may enhance the emotional benefits of cognitive reappraisal and highlight the potential of narrative-based emotion regulation interventions.