Effects of Affctive Ambiguity on Emotion Regulation through Affect Labeling

Putting feelings into words, called affect labeling, has been shown to attenuate emotional responses. However, labeling ambiguous emotional states may reduce the emotion regulation effect because it is difficult to categorize such feelings. Conversely, it may prove more effective by reducing feelings of uncertainty. The current study aimed to investigate how affect labeling in affective ambiguity influences emotion regulation effects on the subjective intensity of feelings, skin conductance level, and skin conductance response. Participants were asked to rate the intensity of their feelings after being presented with images of clear facial expressions for the prototypical condition and morphed facial expressions for the ambiguous condition. In addition, participants assigned to the labeling group selected the emotion word that best matched their own feelings during the stimulus presentation. As a result, affect labeling increased skin conductance responses during presentation only in the prototypical condition, suggesting the possibility of different effects according to affective ambiguity. However, both subjective and physiological responses did not decline, contrary to previous research. We discuss the consequences and the experimental characteristics, and propose a direction for future research.