Year: 2019
Type: article
Study design: Clinical Trial
Abstract: Extant research points to a link between emotion regulation and psychological functioning.In particular, research suggests that how individuals choose to regulate their emotions (i.e., strategy selection) and how well they enact their chosen strategy (i.e.implementation) impact emotional and psychological functioning.Emerging research suggests that implicit beliefs about emotion (i.e., beliefs about whether emotions can or cannot be changed) may be one factor influencing emotion regulation choice and implementation.However, it remains unclear whether beliefs about emotion can be manipulated, and if doing so leads to more adaptive emotion regulation choice and implementation.Therefore, the aim of this dissertation is to clarify and explore the relationship between emotion malleability beliefs, emotion regulation, and psychological functioning in a series of three experiments.In each experiment, we randomly assigned participants to receive information stating that emotions either can be changed (malleable condition) or cannot be changed (fixed condition).In Studies 1 and 2, we examined the impact of the malleability belief manipulation on emotion regulation choice and positive and negative affect across two different emotional situations.In Study 3, we tested whether the malleability belief manipulation impacted emotion regulation implementation, specifically cognitive reappraisal.Results suggest that the malleability manipulation was successful in altering beliefs about emotion (Studies 1, 2, 3).In terms Dedication I dedicate this dissertation to my mother, who inspired me pursue a degree in clinical psychology.
Author: Wilson, Anne Cathryn
Institution: The Ohio State University
Language: English
Topic: Emotions and Moral Behavior
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7019769725