The Future of Emotion Regulation Research

TLDR

Emotion regulation involves modifying emotional experiences, expressions, physiology, and situational triggers to produce appropriate responses, with context playing a central role, especially in psychopathology where rigid responses prevail, yet empirical research on contextual effects remains limited. The review proposes a systematic framework for evaluating contextual factors that shape emotion regulation, aiming to stimulate more nuanced theoretical and empirical investigations. The framework specifies emotion regulation components and systematically assesses deviations within each component and its underlying dimensions. The authors present initial guidelines for combining these dimensions and components to capture meaningful contextual influences.

Abstract

Emotion regulation has been conceptualized as a process by which individuals modify their emotional experiences, expressions, and physiology and the situations eliciting such emotions in order to produce appropriate responses to the ever-changing demands posed by the environment. Thus, context plays a central role in emotion regulation. This is particularly relevant to the work on emotion regulation in psychopathology, because psychological disorders are characterized by rigid responses to the environment. However, this recognition of the importance of context has appeared primarily in the theoretical realm, with the empirical work lagging behind. In this review, the author proposes an approach to systematically evaluate the contextual factors shaping emotion regulation. Such an approach consists of specifying the components that characterize emotion regulation and then systematically evaluating deviations within each of these components and their underlying dimensions. Initial guidelines for how to combine such dimensions and components in order to capture substantial and meaningful contextual influences are presented. This approach is offered to inspire theoretical and empirical work that it is hoped will result in the development of a more nuanced and sophisticated understanding of the relationship between context and emotion regulation.