What is it about?
Positive psychological growth after life-changing adversity, known as posttraumatic growth, is associated with increased wellbeing. This eye-tracking and EEG research reveals for the first time, that people reporting more posttraumatic growth, especially appreciation for life, spend more time looking at positive visuals, given the choice between positive and negative images.
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Why is it important?
A range of past research has shown that people with PTSD tend to look for threatening and negative visuals in their environment. This research is important as it provides the first physiological evidence of a link between dwelling on positive imagery and deriving advantegeous psychological growth from the struggle to overcome life-changing adversity.
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This page is a summary of: Dwelling on the positive: Eye-tracking and electroencephalogram indicators of posttraumatic growth., Psychological Trauma Theory Research Practice and Policy, September 2025, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/tra0002038.
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