Reader Response draft 3

Reader Response

In the article “Writing Your Way to Happiness”, Parker-Pope (2015) claims writing and rewriting your own stories “can lead to behavioral changes”.

Personally, I believe that writing and editing our own stories does not significantly result in behavioral changes, the most vital factor is our beliefs.

One’s mind is much more powerful than imagined, as the belief is able to shape people’s actions and change their behaviors. Writing down a person’s story is not strong enough to lead to behavioral changes, while beliefs enable one to achieve that.

One example given by the author shows that students who edited their own narratives about college, as compared to those who did not, turned out to be more successful in their academics. However, there was an underlying crucial factor in this study that was trying to convince students to believe that it is common to struggle with studies in their first year and they would be able to adept the new life with time pass by. The positive results obtained significantly because students believed that they are capable to change such adverse situation. This example actually reinforces my viewpoint that people’s belief is, in fact, the most influential factor that can lead to behavioral changes rather than writing and rewriting their stories.

Another example is that, if one says, “I’m not a science student, I can only study arts related subjects” then that belief works as an easy excuse for one to avoid practicing and solving scientific or mathematical questions. This, in a short term, probably can prevent people from failing in academics if they only take arts courses, but in the long run, their capabilities to learn, improve, and develop new skills will be largely weakened. This is how the mindset can affect people’s behaviors. Such situation can be changed by changing people’s beliefs and fixed mindsets, by convincing them to try something that they are not good at. However, in this case, I believe that just writing down what an individual needs to do will not necessarily lead to behavioral changes since one’s behavior is actually controlled and leaded by his belief as well as mindset which reflect what he really wants to achieve. Therefore, as far as I am concerned, belief enables a person to maximize his potential and encourage him to overcome challenges, which in turn leads to behavioral changes.

Additionally, as compared to expressive writing, another stronger factor that can engender behavioral changes is people’s intension which is determined by their attitudes.  “Theories of attitude– behavior relations, models of health behavior, and goal theories all converge on the idea that intention is the key determinant of behavior (Abraham, Sheeran, & Johnston, 1998; Austin & Vancouver, 1996; Conner & Norman, 1996; Eagly & Chaiken, 1993; Gollwitzer & Moskowitz, 1996; Maddux, 1999).” One with intention to achieve certain goals has strong self-motivation, which may lead to behavioral changes in a significant way. Writing down plans and aims, undeniably, acting as a checklist or a reminder, enables us to have a proper schedule. However, whether one will take action or not is mainly dependent on his intention and attitude. A meta-analysis of 422 intention-behavior correlational studies illustrated that, in average, 28% of the behavioral variation is due to an individual’s intention, and thus intentions affect behavior significantly (Cohen, 1992). Therefore, in my opinion, writing and editing a person’s story does not significantly result in behavioral changes but more account for one’s belief, intention and attitude.
(Words 574)

Reference:

Thomas L. Webb, Paschal Sheeran (2006) Does Changing Behavioral Intentions Engender Behavior Change? A Meta-Analysis of the Experimental Evidence. Retrieved from http://communicationcache.com/uploads/1/0/8/8/10887248/does_changing_behavioral_intentions_engender_behavior_change-_a_meta-analysis_of_the_experimental_evidence.pdf

Parker-Pope, T. (2015, January 19). Writing your way to happiness. [Web log post] Retrieved from http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/19/writing-your-way-to-happiness/?hpw&rref=health&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well&_r=0

Reader Response draft 2

Reader Response 

In the article “Writing Your Way to Happiness”, Parker-Pope (2015) claims writing and rewriting your own stories “can lead to behavioral changes”. 

Personally, I believe that writing and editing our own stories does not significantly result in behavioral changes, the most vital factor is our beliefs.

One’s mind is much more powerful than imagined, the belief is able to shape people’s actions and change their behaviors. By writing down a person’s story is not strong enough to lead to behavioral changes, while beliefs enable one to achieve that. 

One example given by the author shows that students who edited their own narratives about college, as compared to those who did not, turned out to be more successful in their academics. However, the underlying crucial factor in this study was trying to convince students to believe that it is common to struggle with studies in their first year and they would be able to adept the new life with time pass by. The positive results obtained significantly because students were with belief that they are capable to change such adverse situation. This example actually reinforces my viewpoint that people’s belief is, in fact, the most influential factor that can lead to behavioral changes rather than writhing and rewriting their stories. 

Another example is that, if one say, “I’m not a science student, I can only study arts related subjects” then that belief works as an easy excuse for one to avoid practicing and solving scientific or mathematical questions. This, in a short term, probably can prevent people from failing in academics if they only take arts courses, but in the long run, their capabilities to learn, improve, and develop new skills will largely be weakened. This is how the mindset can affect people’s behaviors. Such situation can be changed by changing people’s beliefs and fixed mindsets, by convincing them to try something that they are not good at. However, in this case, I believe that just writing down what an individual need to do will not necessarily lead to behavioral changes since one’s behavior is actually controlled and leaded by his beliefs as well as mindset which reflect what they really want to achieve. Therefore, as far as I am concerned, belief enable a person to maximize his potential and encourage him to overcome challenges, which in turn leads to behavioral changes. 

Additionally, as compared to expressive writing, another stronger factor that can engender behavioral changes is people’s intention which is determined by their attitudes.  “Theories of attitude– behavior relations, models of health behavior, and goal theories all converge on the idea that intention is the key determinant of behavior (summarized by Abraham, Sheeran, & Johnston, 1998; Austin & Vancouver, 1996; Conner & Norman, 1996; Eagly & Chaiken, 1993; Gollwitzer & Moskowitz, 1996; Maddux, 1999).” One with intention to achieve certain goals has strong self-motivation, which may lead to behavioral changes in a significant way. Writing down plans and aims, undeniably, acting as a checklist or a reminder, enables us to have a proper schedule, however, whether one will take action or not is mainly depending on his intention and attitude. A meta-analysis of 422 intention-behavior correlational studies illustrated that, in average, 28% of the behavioral variation is due to an individual’s intention, and thus intentions affect behavior significantly(Cohen, 1992). Therefore, in my opinion, writing and editing a person’s story does not significantly result in behavioral changes but more account for one’s belief, intention and attitude. 

Reader Response draft 1

Reader Response draft one 

The author mentions that writing and rewriting your own stories “can lead to behavioral changes”.

Personally, I believe that writing and editing our own stories does not significantly result in behavioral changes, the most vital factor is our beliefs.

 Your mind is much more powerful than you imagine, the belief is able to shape the way you act and change your behaviors. Writing down our stories is not strong enough to lead to behavioral change, while beliefs enable us to achieve that.

One example given by the author shows that students who edited their own narratives about college, as compared to those who did not, turned out to be more successful in their academics. However, the underlying crucial factor in this study was trying to convince students believe that it is common to struggle with studies in their first year and they would be able to adept the new life with time pass by. The positive results obtained significantly because students were with belief that they are capable to change such adverse situation. This example actually reinforces my viewpoint that your belief is, in fact, the most influential factor that can lead to behavioral changes rather than writhing and rewriting your stories.

Another is example is that, if you say, “I’m not a science student, I can only study arts related subjects” then that belief works as an easy excuse for you to avoid practicing and solving scientific or mathematical questions. This, in a short term, probably can prevent you from failing in academics if you only take arts courses, but in the long run, your capability to learn, improve, and develop new skills will largely be weakened. This is how the mindset affects us. Such situation can only be changed by changing your belief and fixed mindset, by convincing yourself to try something that you are not good at rather than avoid them. In this case, I believe that just writing down what you need to do to remind yourself will not necessarily lead to behavioral changes, while belief enable us to maximize our potentials and encourage us to overcome challenges.

Additionally, comparing with expressive writing, another stronger factor that can engender behavioral changes is one’s intension that is determined by an individual’s attitude.  Theories of attitude– behavior relations, models of health behavior, and goal theories all converge on the idea that intention is the key determinant of behavior (summaries by Abraham, Sheeran, & Johnston, 1998; Austin & Vancouver, 1996; Conner & Norman, 1996; Eagly & Chaiken, 1993; Gollwitzer & Moskowitz, 1996; Maddux, 1999). One with intention to achieve certain goals has strong self-motivation, which can lead to behavior change to in a significant way. Writing down plans and aims, undeniably, acting as a checklist as well as a reminder, enables us to have a proper schedule. While, whether one will take action or not is mainly depending on his intention and attitude.


In a meta-analysis of 422 studies involving 82,107 participants indicated that intentions accounted for 28% of the variance in behavior on average. Meta-analyses of correlational studies suggested that intentions affect behavior significantly, based on standard estimates of effect size (Cohen, 1992).

Summary Draft 1

Summary

In the article “Writing Your Way to Happiness”, Parker-Pope (2015) claims that expressive writing can make one happier. Expressive writing is both physically and mentally beneficial. The writer mentions that writing and rewriting your own stories “can lead to behavioral changes” and it can help change our views of ourselves. Studies conducted in America has shown that students who edited their own narrative about college, as compared to those who did not, turned out to be more successful in their academics. Writing enables us to reconstruct and redefine our problems which enables us to face our problems, leading to a “life course correction”. Writing can help a person recognize what is more important to them.

(115 words)

Parker-Pope, T. (2015, Jan 19). Writing Your Way to Happiness. [Web log post]

Retrieved from http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/19/writing-your-way-to-happiness/?hpw&rref=health&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well&_r=1