Opportunities and Challenges for the Emerging Field of Positive Emotion Regulation: A Commentary on the Special Edition on Positive Emotions and Cognitions in Clinical Psychology

The relative ability of four comedic sketches to induce amusement in the laboratory and its moderation by dispositional differences in experiential approach as a form of positive emotion regulation were investigated. College student participants reported significant and equivalent diminished levels of negative affect relative to baseline following each sketch, while the level of positive affect induced by The Office exceeded that elicited by two of the three other sketches as well as by a top-ranked French comedic film clip. Regression models indicated that the two subscales of the Experiential Approach Scale and their interaction accounted for significant variability in negative mood reductions following the sketches. Unexpectedly, college student participants who enjoyed the greatest decrement in negative affect reported a regulation style in which anxiously clinging to positive emotions dominates over sustaining and savoring them. The limitations of this project and implications of its findings for laboratory inductions of amusement, as well as further investigations of its possible moderation by experiential approach as form of positive emotion regulation are discussed.

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Research on the Influence of Visual Factors on Emotion Regulation Interaction

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.772642 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Zhiyong Xiong ◽

Xinyu Weng ◽

Yu Wei

Keyword(s):

Emotion Regulation ◽

Positive Emotion ◽

Positive Emotions ◽

Negative Emotion ◽

Influencing Factor ◽

Key Factors ◽

Factors Affecting ◽

Complex Emotions ◽

Specific Emotion ◽

Emotional Value

To guide the design direction of emotion regulation products that improve the positive emotions of users, investigation into the correlation between relevant visual factors and multi-dimensional complex emotions is needed. In the present study, an extended product emotion measurement method was adopted to describe the multi-dimensional emotional set of each influencing factor and calculate their weight according to the order. The positive and negative emotion indicators of all influencing factors were compared and the evaluation and ranking factors that affect users’ emotional value of emotion regulation products were analyzed. The experimental results reveal that specific emotion mapping scenes on positive emotion are the most significant among the key factors affecting user emotion. Further, the influence of emotional stickers, interactive data visualization, and text on positive emotions decreased in turn. The influence of emotional text on positive emotion was the lowest. Through investigating the visual factors that affect the psychological emotions of users, the development of emotion regulating products could be guided in a more scientific and reasonable manner.

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Positive Emotion Regulation in Depression

The Oxford Handbook of Positive Emotion and Psychopathology ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190653200.013.17 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 238-250

Author(s):

W. Michael Vanderlind ◽

Jutta Joormann

Keyword(s):

Emotion Regulation ◽

Major Depression ◽

Negative Affect ◽

Emotion Dysregulation ◽

Positive Emotion ◽

Positive Emotions ◽

Empirical Work ◽

Self Report ◽

Behavioral Tasks

Depression is a disorder of emotion dysregulation. Indeed, emotion regulation difficulties are clearly evident in the hallmark features of the disorder: sustained negative affect and anhedonia. Whereas an abundance of research has focused on the downregulation of negative affect, only recently has empirical work begun to untangle depression-related difficulties experiencing and maintaining positive emotions. This chapter first reviews the phenomenology of positive emotion disruptions within major depression and then identifies emerging findings that highlight potential mechanisms of these disruptions. Various forms of methodology (e.g., self-report, behavioral tasks, psychophysiology, neuroimaging) are integrated to address the following questions: Where does positive emotion fall apart in depression and why? The chapter concludes by discussing implications for the assessment of major depression as well as the refinement of interventions aimed at treating this debilitating disorder.

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Personality Differences in Emotions

Journal of Individual Differences ◽

10.1027/1614-0001.30.2.100 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 30 (2) ◽

pp. 100-106 ◽

Cited By ~ 38

Author(s):

Weiting Ng ◽

Ed Diener

Keyword(s):

Emotion Regulation ◽

Positive Emotion ◽

Positive Emotions ◽

Negative Emotion ◽

Negative Emotions ◽

Emotional Reactions ◽

Personality Differences ◽

Laboratory Situation

In Study 1, individuals high in neuroticism (high N) felt more negative and experienced less decrease of their negative emotions than individuals low in Neuroticism (low N) when extremely unpleasant hypothetical scenarios improved. Study 2 also found that high N individuals felt more negative than low N in a slightly unpleasant laboratory situation, and that individuals high in Extraversion (high E) felt more positive than individuals low in Extraversion (low E) in a slightly pleasant laboratory situation. The present studies also confirmed that high N individuals were less likely to repair negative emotions than low N, and high E individuals were more likely to savor positive emotions than low E. These attempts at negative and positive emotion regulation predicted negative and positive emotional reactions, respectively, and accounted for the trait differences in emotions. Hence, there is evidence that differences in negative emotion regulation mediated the relation between Neuroticism and negative emotions, and differences in positive emotion regulation mediated the relation between Extraversion and positive emotions.

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Savoring the present: The reciprocal influence between positive emotions and positive emotion regulation in everyday life

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0251561 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (5) ◽

pp. e0251561

Author(s):

Desirée Colombo ◽

Jean-Baptiste Pavani ◽

Javier Fernandez-Alvarez ◽

Azucena Garcia-Palacios ◽

Cristina Botella

Keyword(s):

Emotion Regulation ◽

Everyday Life ◽

Positive Emotion ◽

Positive Emotions ◽

Well Being ◽

Adaptive Mechanism ◽

Reciprocal Influence ◽

Regulatory Processes ◽

Ecological Momentary ◽

Momentary Assessment

A growing body of research has investigated the regulation of negative emotions in ecological settings, but little is known about the mechanisms underlying positive emotion regulation in everyday life. Although some evidence suggests that adopting positive strategies is beneficial for emotional well-being, the literature is inconsistent about the effects of positive emotions on subsequent regulatory processes. In the present study, we adopted a two-week ecological momentary assessment to explore the association between positive emotions and positive emotion regulation in daily life. According to our results, the less individuals felt positive emotions at one point, the more they tended to enhance their use of positive strategies from this time to the next, which in turn resulted in subsequent higher levels of positive emotions. This prototype of positive regulation can be seen as a highly adaptive mechanism that makes it possible to compensate for a lack of positive emotions by enhancing the deployment of positive strategies. The theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

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Perceived vs. Actual Emotion Reactivity and Regulation in Individuals With and Without a History of NSSI

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.612792 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Jessica Mettler ◽

Melissa Stern ◽

Stephen P. Lewis ◽

Nancy L. Heath

Keyword(s):

Emotion Regulation ◽

Mood Induction ◽

Positive Emotion ◽

Positive Emotions ◽

Comparison Group ◽

Negative Emotions ◽

Group Differences ◽

Emotion Reactivity ◽

Self Injury ◽

History Of

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) has consistently been associated with self-reported difficulties in emotion reactivity and the regulation of negative emotions; however, less is known about the accuracy of these self-reports or the reactivity and regulation of positive emotions. The present study sought to investigate differences between women with and without a history of NSSI on: (a) self-reported general tendencies of negative and positive emotion reactivity, (b) self-reported general tendencies of negative and positive emotion regulation, and (c) emotion regulation reported in response to a positive and negative mood induction. The sample consisted of 36 women with a recent history of NSSI within the last 2 years (Mage = 20.06; SD = 1.51) and a comparison group with no history of NSSI (n = 34; Mage = 20.15; SD = 1.54). Participants completed self-report measures of negative and positive emotion reactivity and regulation. In a separate session, participants underwent both a negative and positive mood induction using a counterbalanced design and reported their experienced emotions. Results from two-way MANOVAs and ANOVAs revealed those with a history of NSSI reported significantly greater difficulties in negative emotion reactivity and regulation than the no-NSSI comparison group; however, no group differences emerged in self-reported reactivity or regulation of positive emotions. In contrast, repeated measures ANOVAs on data from the mood induction task found no group differences in reactivity or regulation for either negative or positive emotions. These findings highlight the possibility that although individuals with a history of NSSI evaluate their ability to manage negative emotions as significantly worse than individuals with no history of self-injury, this may not reflect their actual emotion regulatory processes.

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Positive emotion dispositions and emotion regulation in the Italian population

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0245545 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (3) ◽

pp. e0245545

Author(s):

Alice Chirico ◽

Michelle N. Shiota ◽

Andrea Gaggioli

Keyword(s):

Emotion Regulation ◽

Positive Emotion ◽

Large Scale ◽

Positive Emotions ◽

Factor Model ◽

High Reliability ◽

Italian Population ◽

Negative Affects ◽

The Relationship ◽

Italian Sample

The goal of this large-scale study was to test the relationship between positive emotion dispositions (i.e., Joy, Contentment, Pride, Love, Compassion, Amusement, and Awe) and two strategies of emotion regulation (i.e., reappraisal and suppression) in the Italian population. 532 Italian-speaking adults completed the Dispositional Positive Emotion Scales (DPES), the Positive and Negative Affective Schedule (PANAS), the Italian Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), and the Big-Five Inventory (BFI). DPES scales showed high reliability. Exploratory Factor Analysis showed that a 6-factor model fits the Italian sample better. Joy and Contentment loaded on the same factor. Items assessing the other five emotions loaded on separate factors. The patterns of relationships between positive emotion dispositions, positive and negative affects traits (PANAS), and personality traits (BFI) indicated concurrent validity of the DPES. Twelve separated multiple regression models with BFI and ERQ factors as predictors and DPES factors as response variables showed that Extraversion significantly positively predicted of all DPES emotions. Agreeableness predicted Happiness, Love, Compassion, and Awe positively. Conscientiousness predicted Amusement and Love negatively and Compassion, Pride, and Happiness positively. Neuroticism predicted all emotions negatively except for Compassion. Positive emotions were significantly and positively predicted by reappraisal, and negatively predicted by suppression.

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097 Subjective Sleep Quality is Associated with the Regulation of Positive Emotions

SLEEP ◽

10.1093/sleep/zsab072.096 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 44 (Supplement_2) ◽

pp. A40-A40

Author(s):

Suzanna Powell ◽

Joanne Bower ◽

Dagny Deutchman ◽

Cara Palmer

Keyword(s):

Emotion Regulation ◽

Sleep Quality ◽

Quality Index ◽

Sleep Disturbances ◽

Positive Emotion ◽

Positive Emotions ◽

Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index ◽

Emotion Regulation Strategies ◽

Subjective Sleep ◽

Regulation Strategies

Abstract Introduction Sleep disturbances have been associated with emotion regulation difficulties, which in turn predicts the onset and maintenance of mental health disorders. However, research has primarily focused on the regulation of negative emotions. Associations between sleep and positive emotion regulation strategies are unknown. The current research examined relationships between subjective sleep disturbances (Study 1 and Study 2), objective sleep (Study 2), and positive emotion regulation strategies, including strategies that enhance or maintain positive emotions (i.e., savoring) and strategies that reduce positive emotion (i.e., dampening). Methods In Study 1, participants (N = 388, ages 18–64 years, 65% female) completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the Responses to Positive Affect questionnaire to assess their positive emotion regulation strategy use, which consists of three subscales (emotion-focused savoring, self-focused savoring, and dampening). Participants in Study 2 (N = 59, ages 18–30 years, 84% female) completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, the Responses to Positive Affect questionnaire, and wore an actigraph for one week. Results In Study 1, greater subjective sleep disturbances were associated with increased dampening (β = .45, B = .45, SE = .05, 95% C.I. = .35, .55, p <.001), less emotion-focused savoring (β = -.16, B = -.10, SE = .03, 95% C.I. = -.16, -.04, p <.005) and less self-focused savoring (β = -.16, B = -.08, SE = .03, 95% C.I. = -.13, -.03, p < .05). In Study 2, subjective sleep disturbances were associated with greater dampening (β = .31, B = .70, SE = .32, 95% C.I. = .07, 1.34, p < .05), and marginally less self-focused savoring (β = -.28, B = -.82, SE = .42, 95% C.I. = -1.67, .02, p = .05). Actigraphy-measured sleep was unrelated to positive emotion regulation. All models adjusted for adjusted for age and gender. Conclusion Subjective sleep disturbances are associated with positive emotion regulation strategies, particularly strategies that dampen positive emotional experiences. These findings complement prior associations among sleep and the dysregulation of negative emotions, and suggest that sleep-related positive emotion dysregulation may be one mechanism by which sleep can lead to the development of emotional disorders. Support (if any):

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Positive emotions, emotion regulation and prosocial behabiors

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e537902012-200 ◽

2011 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

E. R. Regner

Keyword(s):

Emotion Regulation ◽

Positive Emotions

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Protector and Casualty

The Oxford Handbook of Positive Emotion and Psychopathology ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190653200.013.31 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 495-522

Author(s):

Meg Dennison ◽

Katie McLaughlin

Keyword(s):

Early Life ◽

Positive Emotion ◽

Positive Emotions ◽

Protective Factor ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Positive Emotionality ◽

Early Life Adversity ◽

Adverse Experiences ◽

Wide Range ◽

Positive Valence

Early-life adversity is associated with elevated risk for a wide range of mental disorders across the lifespan, including those that involve disruptions in positive emotionality. Although extensive research has evaluated heightened negative emotionality and threat processing as developmental mechanisms linking early-life adversity with mental health problems, emerging evidence suggests that positive emotions play an integral, but complex, role in the association of early-life adversity with psychopathology. This chapter identifies two pathways through which positive emotion influences risk for psychopathology following early-life adversity. First, experiences of early-life adversity may alter the development of the “positive valence system”, which in turn increases risk for psychopathology. Second, the association between adversity and psychopathology may vary as a function of individual differences in positive emotionality. We consider how the development of positive emotionality—measured at psychological, behavioral and neurobiological levels—may be altered by early-life adversity, creating a diathesis for psychopathology. We additionally review evidence for the role of positive emotion, measured at multiple levels, as a protective factor that buffers against the adverse impacts of adversity. In integrating these two roles, it is proposed that characteristics of environmental adversity, including developmental timing, duration, and type of adversity, may differentially impact the development of positive emotionality, leading to a better understanding of risks associated with specific adverse experiences. Methodological issues regarding the measurement of adverse environments as well as implications for early intervention and treatment are discussed.

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