Emotion regulation capacity and tendency: Mapping links with cognitive flexibility and perceived stress
Year: 2017
Type: preprint
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Cognitive reappraisal is one of the most robust emotion regulation strategies humans have at their disposal. However, little distinction has been made in the literature between different facets of reappraisal—capacity and tendency—and how they may differentially relate to wellbeing outcomes. Moreover, despite the fact that reappraisal has been linked to numerous positive outcomes, much is unknown about how the suite of cognitive processes that undergird reappraisal actually contribute to its effectiveness. We addressed these two gaps in the current study by first independently assessing how reappraisal capacity and tendency each relate to perceived stress, an important wellbeing outcome. We then tested whether cognitive flexibility—a key executive function theorized to support reappraisal—statistically accounted for these relationships. Although reappraisal tendency was significantly related to less perceived stress, no relationship was observed between reappraisal capacity and perceived stress. Moreover, cognitive flexibility did not statistically account for the relationship between either facet of reappraisal and perceived stress. These results have practical implications—interventions aimed at improving wellbeing may be better off focusing on increasing the tendency to reappraise rather than the capacity to do so—as well as theoretical ramifications—reappraisal may be an emergent process that is greater than the sum of its parts.
Source: OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints)
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W6887647710