Emotion Regulation

• Published in: Emotion (Washington, D.C.) D.C.), 2020-02, Vol.20 (1), p.1-9
• Main Authors: McRae, Kateri, Gross, James J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Behavioral Research; Cognitive Appraisal; Emotional Regulation; Emotional Regulation - physiology; Emotions - physiology; Goals; Human; Humans; Intervention; Neurobiology; Neurosciences
• ISSN: 1528-3542; 1931-1516
• DOI: 10.1037/emo0000703

Emotion regulation (ER) refers to attempts to influence emotions in ourselves or others. Over the past several decades, ER has become a popular topic across many subdisciplines within psychology. One framework that has helped to organize work on ER is the process model of ER, which distinguishes 5 families of strategies defined by when they impact the emotion generation process. The process model embeds these ER strategies in stages in which a need for regulation is identified, a strategy is selected and implemented, and monitoring occurs to track success. Much of the research to date has focused on a strategy called cognitive reappraisal, which involves changing how one thinks about a situation to influence one's emotional response. Reappraisal is thought to be generally effective and adaptive, but there are important qualifications. In this article, we use reappraisal as an example to illustrate how we might consider 4 interrelated issues: (a) the consequences of using ER, either when instructed or spontaneous; (b) how ER success and frequency are shaped by individual and environmental determinants; (c) the psychological and neurobiological mechanisms that make ER possible; and (d) interventions that might improve how well and how often people use ER.