Post Event Rumination Effects

Post-event rumination involves a tendency to review social situations in a detailed and negative fashion, and often leads to the re-experiencing of situations. This processing of information includes intrusive and extensive recalling of memories that results in high levels of anxiety (Morgan & Banerjee, 2008) and of negative self-images that perpetuate the assumption they do not perform well in social situations, and leads to an increase in avoidance behavior (Kashdan & Roberts, 2007). The type of rumination an individual engages in influences subsequent maladaptive behaviors and cognitions (Morgan & Banerjee, 2008; Trew & Alden, 2009). The type of social interaction an individual is put into can influence how anxiety provoking it is, which in turn influences the extent rumination and subsequent negative affect will occur. Kashdan and Roberts (2007) hypothesized that a situation in which personal information was shared would increase the likelihood for rumination and negative affect to transpire than if superficial information was shared, because sharing personal information …show more content…
Trew and Alden examined how brooding, rumination in a resentful and self-critical way, and reflective pondering, rumination to analyze negative situations and emotions, may influence anger expression in individuals with SAD (2009). Brooding was predicted to be associated with trait anger, the tendency to experience anger in various situations, and outward anger, expressing anger verbally or physically, while reflective pondering was predicted to be associated with anger suppression. Undergraduate students completed questionnaires about their level of social anxiety, their rumination style, and their anger expression style (Trew & Alden,