A Social Psychological Model of Account-Making in Response to Severe Stress

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Abstract
This paper extends recent theorising on the psychology of accounts and account-making. It is argued that while work on this topic in the area of close relationships and reactions to stress is increasing, as yet too little explicit theoretical analysis and hypothesis postulation have been presented. The present statement amplifies further on the nature of the account-making process and articulates an hypothesised role of this process in people's reaction to severe stress. The paper also provides comparison of the present approach to accounts as people's explanations for events structured in story-like fashion and alternative conceptualisations of accounts. Overall, it is contended that the activity of for-mulating an account helps the individual cope with the psychological effects of severe stress. The paper discusses emotion, memory-cognition, and behavioural expectation as they relate to account-making. An agenda is also presented for future research in order to further elucidate accounts and account-making.

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