scholarly journals Emotion regulation in times of COVID-19: A person-centered approach based on self-determination theory

Author(s):  
Joachim Waterschoot ◽  
Sofie Morbée ◽  
Branko Vermote ◽  
Katrijn Brenning ◽  
Nele Flamant ◽  
...  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joachim Waterschoot ◽  
Sofie Morbée ◽  
Branko Vermote ◽  
Katrijn Brenning ◽  
Nele Flamant ◽  
...  

Although the COVID-19 crisis is a worldwide threat to individuals’ physical health and psychological well-being, not all people are equally susceptible to increased ill-being. One potentially important factor in individuals’ vulnerability (versus resilience) to ill- being in the face of stress is emotion regulation. On the basis of Self-Determination Theory, this study examined the role of three emotion regulation styles in individuals’ mental health during the COVID-19 crisis, that is, integration, suppression, and dysregulation. Participants were 6584 adults (77 % female, M age = 45.16 years) who filled out well-validated measures of emotion regulation, depression, anxiety, life satisfaction, and sleep quality. To examine naturally occurring combinations of emotion regulation strategies, hierarchical k-means clustering was performed, yielding 3 profiles: (a) low scores on all strategies (indicating rather low overall levels of worry; 27%), (b) high scores on integration only (41%), and (c) high scores on suppression and dysregulation (33%). Participants in the profiles scoring high on suppression and dysregulation displayed a less favorable pattern of outcomes (high ill-being, low life satisfaction, and poorer sleep quality) compared to the other two groups. Between- cluster differences remained significant even when taking into account the corona- related worries experienced by people. Overall, the findings underscore the important role of emotion regulation in individuals’ mental health during mentally challenging periods such as the COVID-19 crisis. Practical implications and directions for future research are discussed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (12) ◽  
pp. 1666-1680 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moti Benita ◽  
Raz Kehat ◽  
Rotem Zaba ◽  
Yael Blumenkranz ◽  
Gittit Kessler ◽  
...  

We applied self-determination theory to emotion regulation and tested the potential effects of autonomy-supportive and controlling contexts on the pursuit of emotion goals. In four experimental studies ( N = 242), participants viewed a fear-eliciting film clip or emotion-eliciting pictures and were prompted to pursue emotion goals with either autonomy-supportive or controlling instructions. Participants in both conditions were equally likely to engage in emotion regulation when directly instructed to do so. However, when they were allowed to spontaneously choose whether to regulate emotions or not, participants in the autonomy-supportive contexts were more likely than those in the controlling ones to independently pursue emotion goals. The latter also engaged in more defensive processing of emotion-eliciting stimuli than the former. These results indicate that people are more likely to pursue emotion goals of their own accord when the context in which they pursue them is autonomy supportive, rather than controlling.


Author(s):  
María Vicent ◽  
Ricardo Sanmartín ◽  
Oswaldo Vásconez-Rubio ◽  
José Manuel García-Fernández

This study complements extant variable-centered research that focus on the relationship between perfectionism and the autonomous and controlled motivation to exercise. A person-centered approach is used for identifying perfectionism profiles as well as analyzing inter-profile differences in terms of the six regulatory styles located on the autonomy-control continuum. A sample of 597 (Mage = 22.08, SD = 3.33) Ecuadorian undergraduates enrolled in a sport science degree program was employed. Latent Profile Analysis based on two higher-order perfectionism dimensions, Perfectionistic Strivings (PS) and Perfectionistic Concerns (PC), supported a four-class solution: Non-Perfectionists (low PS and PC), Adaptive Perfectionists (high PS and low PC), Maladaptive Perfectionists (high PS and PC), and Moderate Perfectionists (moderate PS and PC). Adaptive Perfectionists obtained the highest means on Intrinsic, Integrated, and Identified regulations. However, these differences where only significant when compared with Moderate Perfectionists, and only in the case of Integrated regulation, in comparison with Non-Perfectionists. In contrast, Maladaptive Perfectionists obtained significantly higher scores on Introjected and External regulations as well as on Amotivation than the other three classes. Results are discussed in light of Self-Determination Theory.


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 945-956 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy Roth ◽  
Maarten Vansteenkiste ◽  
Richard M. Ryan

AbstractGrounded in self-determination theory's (SDT; Ryan & Deci, 2017) organismic perspective, we present a process view of integrative emotion regulation. SDT describes three general types of emotion regulation: integrative emotion regulation, which focuses on emotions as carrying information that is brought to awareness; controlled emotion regulation, which is focused on diminishing emotions through avoidance, suppression, or enforced expression or reappraisal; and amotivated emotion regulation, in which emotions are uncontrolled or dysregulated. We review survey and experimental research contrasting these emotion regulation styles, providing evidence for the benefits of integrative emotion regulation for volitional functioning, personal well-being, and high-quality relationships, and for the costs of controlled emotion regulation and dysregulation. The development of emotion regulation styles is discussed, especially the role of autonomy-supportive parenting in fostering more integrative emotion regulation, and the role of controlling parenting in contributing to controlled or dysregulated emotion processing. Overall, integrative emotion regulation represents a beneficial style of processing emotions, which develops most effectively in a nonjudgmental and autonomy-supportive environment, an issue relevant to both development and psychotherapy.


2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-70
Author(s):  
Petr Květon ◽  
Martin Jelínek

Abstract. This study tests two competing hypotheses, one based on the general aggression model (GAM), the other on the self-determination theory (SDT). GAM suggests that the crucial factor in video games leading to increased aggressiveness is their violent content; SDT contends that gaming is associated with aggression because of the frustration of basic psychological needs. We used a 2×2 between-subject experimental design with a sample of 128 undergraduates. We assigned each participant randomly to one experimental condition defined by a particular video game, using four mobile video games differing in the degree of violence and in the level of their frustration-invoking gameplay. Aggressiveness was measured using the implicit association test (IAT), administered before and after the playing of a video game. We found no evidence of an association between implicit aggressiveness and violent content or frustrating gameplay.


Author(s):  
Philipp A. Freund ◽  
Annette Lohbeck

Abstract. Self-determination theory (SDT) suggests that the degree of autonomous behavior regulation is a characteristic of distinct motivation types which thus can be ordered on the so-called Autonomy-Control Continuum (ACC). The present study employs an item response theory (IRT) model under the ideal point response/unfolding paradigm in order to model the response process to SDT motivation items in theoretical accordance with the ACC. Using data from two independent student samples (measuring SDT motivation for the academic subjects of Mathematics and German as a native language), it was found that an unfolding model exhibited a relatively better fit compared to a dominance model. The item location parameters under the unfolding paradigm showed clusters of items representing the different regulation types on the ACC to be (almost perfectly) empirically separable, as suggested by SDT. Besides theoretical implications, perspectives for the application of ideal point response/unfolding models in the development of measures for non-cognitive constructs are addressed.


2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 70-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon L. Albrecht

The job demands-resources (JD-R) model provides a well-validated account of how job resources and job demands influence work engagement, burnout, and their constituent dimensions. The present study aimed to extend previous research by including challenge demands not widely examined in the context of the JD-R. Furthermore, and extending self-determination theory, the research also aimed to investigate the potential mediating effects that employees’ need satisfaction as regards their need for autonomy, need for belongingness, need for competence, and need for achievement, as components of a higher order needs construct, may have on the relationships between job demands and engagement. Structural equations modeling across two independent samples generally supported the proposed relationships. Further research opportunities, practical implications, and study limitations are discussed.


2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cornelia Gerdenitsch ◽  
Bettina Kubicek ◽  
Christian Korunka

Supported by media technologies, today’s employees can increasingly decide when and where to work. The present study examines positive and negative aspects of this temporal and spatial flexibility, and the perceptions of control in these situations based on propositions of self-determination theory. Using an exploratory approach we conducted semi-structured interviews with 45 working digital natives. Participants described positive and negative situations separately for temporal and spatial flexibility, and rated the extent to which they felt autonomous and externally controlled. Situations appraised positively were best described by decision latitude, while negatively evaluated ones were best described by work–nonwork conflict. Positive situations were perceived as autonomous rather than externally controlled; negative situations were rated as autonomously and externally controlled to a similar extent.


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