Summary: New research suggests that reflecting on a parent in therapy can subtly alter how a person recalls feelings from childhood, even if the question is neutral. This process, known as reappraisal, may lead individuals to adjust their emotions or perceptions toward a parent, with potential long-term effects on family dynamics. In one experiment, participants were asked to remember positive or negative attributes of their mothers, which notably impacted their current and past feelings.
This finding underscores the malleability of emotional memories, highlighting a need for awareness in therapeutic practices. Being informed of reappraisal effects could help individuals maintain accuracy in recalling childhood emotions. The study emphasizes the power of self-reflection in therapy and its potential influence on relationships.
Key Facts:
- Reflecting on parents in therapy can shift memories and feelings from childhood.
- Neutral questions on parents’ traits significantly affected participants’ emotions.
- Awareness of reappraisal in therapy may help maintain memory accuracy.
Source: University of Portsmouth
New research suggests a person’s feelings towards a parent can be significantly changed when they are asked to evaluate them during talking therapy, even when the question isn’t suggestive.
Therapists often ask clients to reflect on their relationships with family, as a way to help unlock past memories and feelings. A new study, led by the University of Portsmouth, has explored whether this line of questioning can alter emotions and memories towards a parent – a process known as reappraisal.
The current paper investigates the effect of reappraisals toward participants’ mothers, focusing on the emotions happiness, interest, sadness, and anger. They also looked at how this reflection can affect what they felt about the parent in childhood.
The lead author, Dr Lawrence Patihis from the University’s School of Psychology, Sport and Health Sciences, specialises in memory reliability. He explained why he wanted to investigate this phenomenon: “We all have childhood amnesia in early years, because we’re constantly producing new neurons. This leads to complications around what we think we remember, and what actually happened.
“For example, imagine that someone experiences positive emotions with their father during the first 11 years of their life, but this changes at age 16 when he divorces their mum. What they don’t realise is that this negative re-evaluation of their father will subtly change the memory of their relationship with him when they were younger.
“Existing research has shown memories are changeable, and we wanted to test whether the same could be said about how we remember feeling in childhood towards a parent.”
In the first experiment, some participants were asked to give recent examples of when their mother had exhibited evidence of having a positive attribute, while others were asked for examples of her having a negative attribute.
The results show that their current emotions were significantly changed by the reappraisals, and memories of emotion from childhood were altered as well.
“Therapists and clients should be aware that prompts like this during a session might unintentionally lead to reappraisals of parents, with knock on effects on emotions and memories”, explained Dr Patihis.
“Some therapies that focus on childhood reappraise parents negatively, because the assumption is that relationship problems you have in the present are the result of trauma from childhood.
“But our research supports existing evidence that this process can sometimes manipulate the truth of what people actually felt in the past. The concern is that this can result in a family growing distant from one another in the present.
“This is not to say that individuals with genuine negative experiences shouldn’t trust their feelings – just that everyone should be more aware that their emotions and memories are changeable.”
Even boosting positive reappraisals comes with risks. Dr Patihis added: “It is true that thinking more positively towards a parent can improve the relationship overall, but if you accurately remember childhood feelings of sadness and anger, you can then use that accurate memory to choose to raise your own children differently.
“If people are made aware that therapies can shift memories before beginning a session, that knowledge can help them stay accurate about their childhood memories. I have argued that this should be part of informed consent.”
About this psychology and memory research news
Author: Robyn Montague
Source: University of Portsmouth
Contact: Robyn Montague – University of Portsmouth
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access.
“Reappraising a Parent can Occur With Non-suggestive Questions: Changing Emotions and Memories of Emotion” by Lawrence Patihis et al. Psychological Reports
Abstract
Reappraising a Parent can Occur With Non-suggestive Questions: Changing Emotions and Memories of Emotion
Whether it is possible to reappraise parents using non-suggestive questions, and whether this has an impact on emotions and memories, is of great interest in both life and psychotherapy.
Past research has shown reappraisals of past situations is associated with changes in memories of emotions. In previous work we showed memories of love could be affected by reappraisals, but did not analyze that dataset on other memories of emotion.
The current paper investigates the effect of reappraisals toward participants’ mothers on the emotions: happiness, interest, sadness, and anger (and on memories of those emotions in childhood).
Results show that emotions appeared to be significantly changed by reappraisals. In Experiment 1 (N = 301; Mage = 36), we found memories of emotion were affected, especially memory of happiness in childhood, but to a lesser degree compared to current emotions. This offered some confirmation of the cognitive appraisal view of memories of emotions.
Experiment 2 (N = 202; Mage = 36) with pretest and posttest measures showed some similar patterns, but with slightly muted effects. Therapists and clients should be aware that non-suggestive prompts might lead to reappraisals of parents, with knock on effects on emotions and memories.
Whether this should be part of informed consent in therapy is open to debate.
