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The regulation of negative and positive affect in daily life
Brans, Karen Koval, Peter Verduyn, Phillipe Lim, Yan Lin Kuppens, Peter
Brans, Karen
Koval, Peter
Verduyn, Phillipe
Lim, Yan Lin
Kuppens, Peter
Abstract
Emotion regulation has primarily been studied either experimentally or by using retrospective trait questionnaires. Very few studies have investigated emotion regulation in the context in which it is usually deployed, namely, the complexity of everyday life. We address this in the current paper by reporting findings of two experience-sampling studies (Ns = 46 and 95) investigating the use of six emotion-regulation strategies (reflection, reappraisal, rumination, distraction, expressive suppression, and social sharing) and their associations with changes in positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) in daily life. Regarding the relative use of emotion-regulation strategies, a highly similar ordering was found across both studies with distraction being used more than sharing and reappraisal. While the use of all six strategies was positively correlated both within- and between-persons, different strategies were associated with distinct affective consequences: Suppression and rumination were associated with increases in NA and decreases in PA, whereas reflection was associated with increases in PA across both studies. Additionally, reappraisal, distraction, and social sharing were related to increases in PA in Study 2. Discussion focuses on how the current findings fit with theoretical models of emotion regulation and with previous evidence from experimental and retrospective studies.
Keywords
deliberate emotion regulation, experience sampling, positive and negative affect, daily life, regulation strategies
Date
2013
Type
Journal article
Journal
Emotion
Book
Volume
13
Issue
5
Page Range
926-939
Article Number
ACU Department
Relation URI
DOI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
License
File Access
Controlled