Emotion regulation in daily life: Context matters

情绪调节（ER）是个体以足够灵活的方式对需求做出反应的能力。描述ER的一个突出模型是ER的过程模型。该模型认为，个体在情绪产生过程的不同阶段采用ER策略（ERS）来调节不愉快的情绪。此外，它假设ERS在早期阶段（例如，重新评估）在后期阶段比ERS更有效（例如，抑制）。这一模式催生了许多研究，调查单一的ERS和比较其有效性。然而，实验室研究的指示使用单一ERS在单一的，控制的情况下，只发现相对较小的和异质性的平均效应大小。此外，它没有找到令人信服的证据来证明越早越好的假设。我们认为，有多种原因的小效应大小。首先，大多数证据是从实验室研究，从而集中在短期ER的努力和指导使用的ERS。然而，参与者可能在有效使用这些ERS方面不够熟练。其次，ERS通常使用单个指令或项目进行评估，这不仅限制了ERS使用的可靠性，而且由于单个ERS可以分为不同的ER策略，因此降低了ERS的复杂性。第三，ER研究表明，个体很少只选择一个ERS来处理他们的情绪。相反，他们经常在一次情绪发作中使用多个ERS来调节他们的情绪。然而，关于同时使用多种ERS的研究很少。第四，最近的帐户ER远离一般适应性的ERS，而是强调的作用，在其中ER发生的情况。在这些账户中，当参与者灵活选择适合当前情况的ERS时，ER特别有效。然而，这一概念的证据有限。因此，在拟议的研究计划中，我们希望捕捉ER及其在日常生活中的背景。具体来说，我们将（1）综合先前关于ERS在日常生活中有效性的证据，（2）开发和验证一种新的ERS问卷，该问卷采用多种策略/项目捕获ER过程模型的所有阶段，（3）调查情境选择在减少参与后续ER努力的需要中的作用，并检验了（4）不同ERS之间的相互作用以及（5）ERS与情境因素之间的相互作用。拟议的项目有可能对ER领域产生实质性的科学影响，有助于理论（多调节，策略-情境拟合和ER灵活性）和方法上的进步（一种新的ER问卷和一种新的EMA框架，允许在日常生活中随着时间的推移调查ER及其情境因素）。在社会影响方面，项目成果将用于制定干预措施，以促进适应性ER的使用。

Emotion regulation (ER) is the ability of an individual to respond to demands in a sufficiently flexible manner. A prominent model to describe ER is the process model of ER. This model proposes that individuals employ ER strategies (ERS) to regulate unpleasant emotions at different stages of the emotion generation process. Furthermore, it assumes that ERS at earlier stages (e.g., reappraisal) are more effective than ERS at later stages (e.g., suppression). This model spawned many studies that investigated single ERS and compared their effectiveness. However, laboratory research on the instructed use of single ERS in single, controlled situations only found relatively small and heterogenous mean effect sizes. Moreover, it did not find compelling evidence for the earlier-is-better assumption. We argue that there are multiple reasons for the small effect sizes. First, most evidence is from laboratory research, thereby focusing on short ER efforts and on the instructed use of an ERS. However, participants may not have been proficient enough in using these ERS effectively. Second, ERS are often assessed using single instructions or items, which does not only limit the reliability of ERS use but also reduces the complexity of an ERS given that a single ERS can be divided into different ER tactics. Third, ER research has shown that individuals rarely choose only one ERS to deal with their emotions. Instead, they often use multiple ERS to regulate their emotions within a single emotional episode. However, research regarding the concurrent use of multiple ERS is scarce. Fourth, recent accounts of ER moved away from the general adaptiveness of ERS and instead highlight the role of the situation, in which ER takes place. In these accounts, ER is particularly effective when participants flexibly select an ERS that fits the current situation. However, evidence for this notion is limited. Thus, in the proposed research proposal, we want to capture ER and its context in daily life. Specifically, we will (1) synthesize prior evidence on the effectiveness of ERS in daily life, (2) develop and validate a novel ERS questionnaire that captures all stages of the process model of ER with multiple tactics/items, (3) investigate the role of situation selection in reducing the need to engage in subsequent ER efforts, and examine the interplay (4) between different ERS as well as (5) between ERS and situational factors. The proposed project has the potential to have substantial scientific impact on the field of ER by contributing both to theoretical (polyregulation, strategy-situation fit, and ER flexibility,) and methodical advances (a novel ER questionnaire and a novel EMA framework that allows for the investigation of ER and its situational factors over time in daily life). In terms of societal impact, project outcomes will be of use in devising interventions to facilitate adaptive ER use.