Affectionate Writing Reduces Total Cholesterol: Article Summary

Floyd, K., Mikkelson, A. C., Hesse, C., & Pauley, P. M. (2007). Affectionate writing reduces total cholesterol: Two randomized, controlled trials. Human Communication Research, 33, 119-142. In the article, “Affectionate Writing Reduces Total Cholesterol: Two Randomized, Controlled Trials,” the authors set out to show that writing down affectionate thoughts about close family and friends can reduce your total cholesterol levels. They continue by stating that one can find mention of affection in almost all studies on the needs of humans, and there is many strong writings that confirms mental and physical health benefit from affectionate communication. The reasoning behind their study is that the benefits of receiving affection have been established, but the health effects of expressing affection have only been questioned.
Floyd, one of the authors, gives a brief description of the affection exchange theory (AET) and an outline of research demonstrating opposite associations between affectionate communication and stress. He then continues by discussing the relationship between stress and cholesterol, and how multiple investigations have demonstrated that acute and chronic stress is associated with elevated levels in cholesterol. Finally, he wraps up with describing the affectionate-writing intervention that will be tested. Floyd then states the prediction to be tested is that engaging in affectionate expression in the form of a written exercise effects a reduction in total cholesterol even more than harmless topics. This is when Floyd discusses that across several experiments two noteworthy patterns appear: the more positive the words used, the greater the health benefit; and the more participants increased their use of “understanding” words, the greater the health benefit. Floyd then shares RQ1 pertaining to what features