Glossary // Glossary term Empirical

Self-distancing

Reflecting on an experience from the perspective of an observer rather than reliving it from one's own point of view, for example by imagining watching the scene from a distance. In experiments, self-distanced reflection on upsetting memories was associated with lower emotional reactivity and less rumination than immersed recall, while still allowing people to make sense of the experience. It is used as a way to analyse why something happened without re-experiencing it at full intensity.

Where the site uses it

Reflect from a distance instead of reliving
Thinking about a painful experience as an observer, rather than re-experiencing it from the inside, reduces emotional reactivity and rumination while still allowing meaning to be found.
The venting hypothesis: what experiments show about letting anger out
Controlled experiments on venting anger found that it keeps anger active and increases aggression. This note reviews the evidence, its limits, and the regulation strategies that reduce anger instead.

Studies behind it

The works the definition rests on, with the level of evidence each was appraised at.

Kross, E., Ayduk, O., & Mischel, W. (2005). When asking "why" does not hurt: Distinguishing rumination from reflective processing of negative emotions. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2005.01600.x

Level B Experiment

Supports the claim that a self-distanced 'why' focus reduced negative affect on recall compared with immersed recall, replicated in a second study. Laboratory recall tasks, short-term outcomes.
Kross, E., & Ayduk, O. (2011). Making meaning out of negative experiences by self-distancing. doi:10.1177/0963721411408883

Level D Review

Supports the claim that self-distancing is associated with adaptive self-reflection across several levels of analysis. A brief review by the authors of much of the primary research.