Objectives.The study compared emotionally disclosive writing and writing about goals as the ‘best possible self’ to a control condition and evaluated coping through emotional processing (EP) and expression (EE) as moderators of effects at 1‐month follow‐up.Method.Undergraduates (N= 63) were randomly assigned to emotional disclosure (EMO), best possible self (BPS), or a control condition (CTL). Outcomes were hostility, medical visits, depressive symptoms, physical symptoms, and blood pressure.Results.At 1 month, hostility decreased in high‐EP participants in EMO relative to BPS and decreased in low‐EP participants in BPS relative to EMO. Low‐EP participants had fewer medical visits in BPS, whereas high‐EP participants had more visits in BPS relative to other conditions.Conclusions.Benefits may accrue when the expressive task is matched to the individual's preferred