Psychological Change in Everyday Life: An Exploratory Study |
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| Authors: | Liliana Meira João Salgado Inês Sousa António P Ribeiro |
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| Institution: | 1. University Institute of Maia—ISMAI &2. Center for Psychology at University of Porto, Porto, Portugal;3. Department of Mathematics and Applications, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal;4. Psychology Research Centre, School of Psychology, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal |
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| Abstract: | The innovative moments model was used in a pilot study that aimed to explore the change processes involved in everyday change outside psychotherapy. According to this model, the emergence and development of innovative moments (IMs) as exceptions to a problematic pattern are closely associated with psychological change. A longitudinal design covering 4 months of interviews was implemented with 13 adults who were coping with significant personal problems without clinical psychopathological complaints. Semistructured interviews were used to explore participants' personal accounts of their problems, and change was assessed using a scaling task at the end of the study. A total of 114 interviews were analyzed using the innovative moments coding system. A general linear model showed that higher levels of change were associated with higher proportions of complex IMs over time. Moreover, lower levels of change were associated with an increase in elementary IMs. These results support the idea that successful psychological change in everyday life shares similarities with the change pattern found in psychotherapy using the innovative moments model. |
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