Logo image
Back
Emotion Regulation Strategy Use and Forecasting in Response to Dynamic, Multimodal Stimuli
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Emotion Regulation Strategy Use and Forecasting in Response to Dynamic, Multimodal Stimuli

William J. Mitchell, Joanne Stasiak, Steven Martinez, Katelyn Cliver, David Gregory, Samantha Reisman, Helen Schmidt, Vishnu P. Murty and Chelsea Helion
Journal of experimental psychology. General, v 154(4), pp 1004-1024
01 Apr 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001715
PMID: 39818915
url
https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001715View
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open

Abstract

naturalistic stimuli self-regulation emotion decision making
Successful emotion regulation (ER) requires effective strategy selection. Research suggests that disengagement strategies (e.g., distraction) are more often selected than engagement strategies (e.g., reappraisal) as emotional experiences intensify. However, the extent to which ER strategy choice in controlled circumstances reflects strategy usage during complex, multimodal events is not well understood. The present research uses dynamic, multimodal stimuli (i.e., a haunted house, horror movies) to examine the association between affective intensity and regulatory strategy usage among untrained participants-individuals given no prior regulation instructions or direction. Both a preliminary study (n = 54) and Study 1 (n = 118) failed to find relationships between emotional intensity and strategy usage to downregulate emotions as participants navigated a haunted house. Distraction was self-reported to be less successful than reappraisal at high intensities, contrary to expectations. Participants in Study 2 (n = 152) forecasted regulation strategy usage based upon descriptions of emotionally regulated experiences from the preliminary haunted house study. Affective intensity predicted which strategies forecasters predicted they would use; though, forecasters overpredicted how often distraction was used in practice. Study 3 (n = 242) incorporated strategy usage and forecasting within the same design by showing untrained participants video stimuli of varying intensity and capturing their regulatory responses. Forecasters again predicted using distraction more often than strategy users did in practice. Forecasters also overpredicted how effectively distraction reduced negative affective intensity relative to what strategy users reported. These results may highlight a disconnect between strategy fittedness when self-regulation occurs in uncontrolled, highly intense, or complex circumstances. Public Significance Statement How individuals manage their emotions during dynamic, complex experiences is an important question for anxiety- and trauma-based disorder prevention and treatment. This study found distraction to be less effective than reappraisal at high negative emotional intensity in these difficult-to-regulate environments, which contrasts findings from relatively more controlled studies.

Metrics

1 Record Views
3 citations in Web of Science

Details

Logo image