Individual differences in expressive suppression and the subjective experience, verbal disclosure, and behavioral expression of anger

Abstract. The benefits of talking with others about unpleasant emotions have been thoroughly investigated, but individual differences in distress disclosure tendencies have not been adequately integrated within theoretical models of emotion. The purpose of this laboratory research was to determine whether distress disclosure tendencies stem from differences in emotional reactivity or differences in emotion regulation. After completing measures of distress disclosure tendencies, social desirability, and positive and negative affect, 84 participants (74% women) were video recorded while viewing a sadness-inducing film clip. Participants completed post-film measures of affect and were then interviewed about their reactions to the film; these interviews were audio recorded for later coding and computerized text analysis. Distress disclosure tendencies were not predictive of the subjective experience of emotion, but they were positively related to facial expressions of sadness and happiness. Distress disclosure tendencies also predicted judges’ ratings of the verbal disclosure of emotion during the interview, but self-reported disclosure and use of positive and negative emotion words were not associated with distress disclosure tendencies. The authors present implications of this research for integrating individual differences in distress disclosure with models of emotion.

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Supplemental Material for Coherence Between Subjective Experience and Physiology in Emotion: Individual Differences and Implications for Well-Being

Emotion ◽

10.1037/emo0000579.supp ◽

2019 ◽

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Subjective Experience ◽

Well Being

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Right Ventrolateral Prefrontal Cortex Mediates Individual Differences in Conflict-driven Cognitive Control

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn_a_00064 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 23 (12) ◽

pp. 3903-3913 ◽

Cited By ~ 45

Author(s):

Tobias Egner

Keyword(s):

Conflict Resolution ◽

Individual Differences ◽

Cognitive Control ◽

Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽

Group Analysis ◽

Individual Variability ◽

Primary Role ◽

Conflict Adaptation ◽

Traditional Group ◽

Behavioral Expression

Conflict adaptation—a conflict-triggered improvement in the resolution of conflicting stimulus or response representations—has become a widely used probe of cognitive control processes in both healthy and clinical populations. Previous fMRI studies have localized activation foci associated with conflict resolution to dorsolateral PFC (dlPFC). The traditional group analysis approach employed in these studies highlights regions that are, on average, activated during conflict resolution, but does not necessarily reveal areas mediating individual differences in conflict resolution, because between-subject variance is treated as noise. Here, we employed a complementary approach to elucidate the neural bases of variability in the proficiency of conflict-driven cognitive control. We analyzed two independent fMRI data sets of face–word Stroop tasks by using individual variability in the behavioral expression of conflict adaptation as the metric against which brain activation was regressed while controlling for individual differences in mean RT and Stroop interference. Across the two experiments, a replicable neural substrate of individual variation in conflict adaptation was found in ventrolateral PFC (vlPFC), specifically, in the right inferior frontal gyrus, pars orbitalis (BA 47). Unbiased regression estimates showed that variability in activity in this region accounted for ∼40% of the variance in behavioral expression of conflict adaptation across subjects, thus documenting a heretofore unsuspected key role for vlPFC in mediating conflict-driven adjustments in cognitive control. We speculate that vlPFC plays a primary role in conflict control that is supplemented by dlPFC recruitment under conditions of suboptimal performance.

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Advances in understanding behavioral needs and improving the welfare of calves and heifers

Understanding the behaviour and improving the welfare of dairy cattle - Burleigh Dodds Series in Agricultural Science ◽

10.19103/as.2020.0084.10 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 163-198

Author(s):

Emily Miller-Cushon ◽

◽

Jennifer Van Os ◽

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Social Contact ◽

Dairy Calves ◽

Environmental Complexity ◽

Factors Affecting ◽

Dietary Variety ◽

Behavioral Expression ◽

Behavioral Needs ◽

And Performance

Management factors affecting dairy calves have broad impacts on behavioral development and implications for long-term welfare, and research in this area is increasingly focused on understanding the behavioral needs of the calf, to refine management and improve understanding of welfare. In this chapter, we summarize recent research addressing behavioral needs of pre-weaned calves and post-weaned heifers, encompassing aspects of social interactions and feeding, rest and comfort, and opportunities for other behavioral expression. In general, evidence suggests welfare and performance benefits of accommodating more natural behavioral expression, including social contact, higher milk intakes fed via a teat, dietary variety, and space and resources to accommodate preferred activities, such as grooming and play. Throughout these sections, consequences of restricting these behaviors includes development of abnormal oral behaviors. Emerging themes of this area of research include consideration of individual differences and implications and approaches to accommodate broader behavioral expression through increasing environmental complexity.

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Stable distribution of reciprocity motives in a population

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-020-74818-y ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Jeroen M. van Baar ◽

Felix H. Klaassen ◽

Filippo Ricci ◽

Luke J. Chang ◽

Alan G. Sanfey

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Stable Distribution ◽

Subjective Experience ◽

Social Preference ◽

Game Studies ◽

Trust Game ◽

Social Motives ◽

Psychological Mechanisms ◽

Modeling Analysis ◽

Relative Prevalence

Abstract Evolutionary models show that human cooperation can arise through direct reciprocity relationships. However, it remains unclear which psychological mechanisms proximally motivate individuals to reciprocate. Recent evidence suggests that the psychological motives for choosing to reciprocate trust differ between individuals, which raises the question whether these differences have a stable distribution in a population or are rather an artifact of the experimental task. Here, we combine data from three independent trust game studies to find that the relative prevalence of different reciprocity motives is highly stable across participant samples. Furthermore, the distribution of motives is relatively unaffected by changes to the salient features of the experimental paradigm. Finally, the motive classification assigned by our computational modeling analysis corresponds to the participants’ own subjective experience of their psychological decision process, and no existing models of social preference can account for the observed individual differences in reciprocity motives. These findings support the view that reciprocal decision-making is not just regulated by individual differences in 'pro-social’ versus ‘pro-self’ tendencies, but also by trait-like differences across several alternative pro-social motives, whose distribution in a population is stable.

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Rating the Incidence of an Altered State of Consciousness as a Function of the Rater's Own Absorption Score

Imagination Cognition and Personality ◽

10.2190/p9e0-rd5g-gmx3-8hbf ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 225-228 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Joseph Glicksohn

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Negative Correlation ◽

Subject Matter ◽

Subjective Experience ◽

Altered State ◽

Personal Involvement ◽

Diagnostic Threshold ◽

Altered State Of Consciousness ◽

The Subject

Why is it that raters differ in their assessment of subjective experience? Assuming that the rater's personal involvement or experience with the subject matter would determine the location of a diagnostic threshold, individual differences in rating would be indexed by the former. In this study, independent judges were asked to assess introspective reports for the appearance of an altered state of consciousness. The rater's own absorption score was determined, and a negative correlation ( r = −0.48) was found between the number of instances of an altered state of consciousness (ASC) assessed and absorption score. Interrater disagreement regarding subjective experience may therefore be a function of variability in absorption.

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Salience Network Connectivity Modulates Skin Conductance Responses in Predicting Arousal Experience

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn_a_01087 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 29 (5) ◽

pp. 827-836 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Chenjie Xia ◽

Alexandra Touroutoglou ◽

Karen S. Quigley ◽

Lisa Feldman Barrett ◽

Bradford C. Dickerson

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Skin Conductance ◽

Resting State ◽

Subjective Experience ◽

Network Connectivity ◽

Resting State Fmri ◽

Salience Network ◽

Skin Conductance Responses ◽

Additional Variance ◽

Connectivity Strength

Individual differences in arousal experience have been linked to differences in resting-state salience network connectivity strength. In this study, we investigated how adding task-related skin conductance responses (SCR), a measure of sympathetic autonomic nervous system activity, can predict additional variance in arousal experience. Thirty-nine young adults rated their subjective experience of arousal to emotionally evocative images while SCRs were measured. They also underwent a separate resting-state fMRI scan. Greater SCR reactivity (an increased number of task-related SCRs) to emotional images and stronger intrinsic salience network connectivity independently predicted more intense experiences of arousal. Salience network connectivity further moderated the effect of SCR reactivity: In individuals with weak salience network connectivity, SCR reactivity more significantly predicted arousal experience, whereas in those with strong salience network connectivity, SCR reactivity played little role in predicting arousal experience. This interaction illustrates the degeneracy in neural mechanisms driving individual differences in arousal experience and highlights the intricate interplay between connectivity in central visceromotor neural circuitry and peripherally expressed autonomic responses in shaping arousal experience.

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Do Individual Differences in Emotion Regulation Mediate the Relationship Between Mental Toughness and Symptoms of Depression?

Journal of Individual Differences ◽

10.1027/1614-0001/a000224 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 38 (2) ◽

pp. 71-82 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Julian Mutz ◽

Peter Clough ◽

Kostas A. Papageorgiou

Keyword(s):

Emotion Regulation ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Individual Differences ◽

Cognitive Reappraisal ◽

Mental Toughness ◽

Future Research ◽

Expressive Suppression ◽

Work Settings ◽

Regulation Strategies ◽

The Relationship

Abstract. Mental Toughness (MT) provides crucial psychological capacities for achievement in sports, education, and work settings. Previous research examined the role of MT in the domain of mental health and showed that MT is negatively associated with and predictive of fewer depressive symptoms in nonclinical populations. The present study aimed at (1) investigating to what extent mentally tough individuals use two emotion regulation strategies: cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression; (2) exploring whether individual differences in emotion regulation strategy use mediate the relationship between MT and depressive symptoms. Three hundred sixty-four participants (M = 24.31 years, SD = 9.16) provided self-reports of their levels of MT, depressive symptoms, and their habitual use of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression. The results showed a statistically significant correlation between MT and two commonly used measures of depressive symptoms. A small statistically significant positive correlation between MT and the habitual use of cognitive reappraisal was also observed. The correlation between MT and the habitual use of expressive suppression was statistically significant, but the size of the effect was small. A statistical mediation model indicated that individual differences in the habitual use of expressive suppression mediate the relationship between MT and depressive symptoms. No such effect was found for the habitual use of cognitive reappraisal. Implications of these findings and possible avenues for future research are discussed.

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Emotion regulation questionnaire-adapted and individual differences in emotion regulation

Europe’s Journal of Psychology ◽

10.5964/ejop.2755 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

pp. 70-84

Author(s):

Rita Seixas ◽

Anne Pignault ◽

Claude Houssemand

Keyword(s):

Emotion Regulation ◽

Individual Differences ◽

Emotional Response ◽

Cognitive Change ◽

Response Modulation ◽

Expressive Suppression ◽

State Of Mind ◽

Specific Emotion ◽

Regulation Strategies ◽

Expression Of Emotions

Emotion regulation is a human adaptation process with important implications for daily life. Two specific emotion regulation strategies were the principle areas of study: reappraisal (cognitive change in which individuals adapt their state of mind about a given situation) and expressive suppression (response modulation in which individuals change their emotional response after its initiation). The Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), that captures individual tendencies to reappraise and to suppress the expression of emotions, was also developed. Response modulation strategy was analyzed by considering two distinct processes: expressive suppression (down-regulation) and expressive enhancement (up-regulation). This latter modulation process has been less frequently studied by researchers. The present study investigates the psychometrical properties, individual differences and correlates of a French adapted version of the ERQ, which comprises reappraisal and the two response modulation tendencies – expressive suppression and expressive enhancement. Based on the initial ERQ, new items were created and added to the scale. The three-factor structure of the ERQ adapted was confirmed. As expected, emotion regulation is linked to individual differences: the tendency to reappraise has a positive low correlation with age; and men are significantly more disposed to suppress and to enhance than women. Finally, the tendency to suppress the expression of emotions is negatively correlated with extraversion, and the disposition to enhance the expression of emotions is negatively correlated with conscientiousness.

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Trait Emotion Regulation Predicts Individual Differences in Momentary Emotion and Experience

Imagination Cognition and Personality ◽

10.1177/0276236618781775 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 38 (4) ◽

pp. 349-377

Author(s):

Reed Maxwell ◽

Steven Jay Lynn ◽

Gregory P. Strauss

Keyword(s):

Emotion Regulation ◽

Individual Differences ◽

Real Time ◽

Emotional Reactivity ◽

Emotional States ◽

Expressive Suppression ◽

Future Directions ◽

Emotion Regulation Strategy ◽

Regulation Strategies ◽

Open Question

A sizable literature has yet to establish a reliable empirical connection between the trait conceptualization of emotion regulation as habitual, cross-situation emotion regulation tendencies and its state conceptualization as real-time, fluid, momentary emotion–situation interactivity and dependency. Thus, an open question remains: Do self-reported differences in tendencies to use one or another emotion regulation strategy predict self-reported, momentary emotional states and experiences, and are differences in these emotional states consistent with differences in emotional reactivity observed in previous studies among individuals in experimental paradigms asked to make real-time use of the emotion regulation strategies represented by these trait measures? If trait measures of emotion regulation validly reflect actual uses of particular strategies (e.g., expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal), then these measures should predict individual differences in momentary emotions and experiences associated with habitual use of these strategies. Examining a sample of 177 participants, we found that differential endorsements of habitual strategy use on these measures were associated with individual differences in self-reported momentary emotion and experience that correspond to well-documented differences in reactivity reported among individuals instructed to apply these strategies in experimental settings. Limitations of these findings and suggestions for future directions are discussed.

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