Emotion Regulation Psy2001

Emotions Generation - The Modal Model (Gross & Thompson, 2007)

Situation

Attention is directed to it

Appraisal evaluates its relevance to goals

Response: An emotion is generated involving: physiological, behavioral, and experiential components.

Emotion Regulation (Gross 1998)

Processes that influence which emotions, when they occur and how they are experienced/expressed

Regulation can be

• Effortful/Explicit or Automatic/Implicit

  • Before the emotion arises (antecedent-focused) or after (response focused)

Process Model of Emotion Regulation (Gross,1998)

Situation Selection

Situation Modification

Attentional Deployment

Cognitive Change

Response Modulation

Situation selection

Avoid or seek emotional situations

Situation Modification

Change the environment

Attentional Deployment

Distract or shift attention

Cognitive Change

Reapparaise or reinterpret meaning

Motives for Emotion Regulation (Tamir, 2016)

Hedonic Motives

Instrumental Motives

Social Motives

Hedonic Motives

To feel better or avoid discomfort

Pro-hedonic: increase pleasure

Contra-hedonic: Increase discomfort for perceived benefits

Instrumental Motives

To achieve goals beyond pleasure:

• Performance

• Epistemic: wanting to understand

• Social: to fit in

• Eudaimonic: For meaning or self-actualisation

Positive Impact of Regulation on Outcomes

Better relationships, wellbeing, performance

Adaptive strategises like reappraisal and problem-solving linked to better mental health

Negative impact of Regulation on Outcomes

Maladaptive strategies like rumination, avoidance and suppression linked to anxiety, depression, ED

Common strategies of emotion regulation

Reappraisal

Distraction

Suppression

Evaluation of common strategies

Intrapersonal vs Interpersonal Regulation - definition

Regulating your own emotions

vs

Regulating emotions through or for others

Intrapersonal - types

Situation selection, reappraisal, suppression etc.

Interpersonal Regulation - Types

Intrinsic IER; Extrinsic IER

Intrapersonal - strategies

Reppraisal, distraction, suppression

Interpersonal Regulation - strategies

Social sharing, co-reappraisal, humour, valuing

Intrapersonal - effectiveness

Reappraisal most effective; suppression least

Interpersonal Regulation - effectiveness

Extrinsic IER most effective

Intrapersonal - motives

Hedonic and instrumental

Interpersonal Regulation - motives

Prosocial or instrumental

Intrapersonal - outcomes

Wellbeing, psychological health, performance

Interpersonal Regulation - outcomes

Closer relationships, social supported, increased wellbeing

Intrapersonal - measurement

Experience sampling, lab tasks

Interpersonal Regulation - measurement

Diaries, ESM, partner feedback

Evidence for Interperonal Benefits

1. Zaki & Williams (2013): Emotion regulation often occurs socially.

2. Tran et al. (2023): People engage in IER multiple times per day.

3. Niven et al. (2016): People may make others feel worse if it benefits goal achievement (e.g., inducing anger for better performance).

4. Levy-Gigi & Shamay-Tsoory (2017): Extrinsic regulation was more effective than intrapersonal regulation in reducing distress