Emotion regulation and self-control: Same same but different and even incompatible?

OBJECTIVE: We explore the idea that inhibitory self-control and prohedonic emotion regulation may be incompatible concerns. BACKGROUND: Specifically, we propose that because some forms of self-control involve denying oneself hedonic pleasures, it may lead to negative affect. Because people may then prioritize emotion regulation over self-control, negative affect may in turn lead to emotion regulation efforts, specifically the use of emotion regulation strategies, and an increased likelihood of self-control failure. METHOD: To explore the relationship between emotion regulation and self-control in daily life, we conducted a secondary analysis of a 6-week, 6-signal-per-day ambulatory assessment data set (N = 125 participants with a total of 22,845 completed measurement occasions). RESULTS: Consistent with our predictions, we found that self-control efforts of resisting a pleasurable desire led to significantly increased subsequent negative affect, which, in turn, led to significantly increased emotion regulation efforts and to significantly more likely self-control failures. CONCLUSIONS: We found evidence for the notion that inhibitory self-control and prohedonic emotion regulation are, on average, somewhat incompatible concerns. We discuss our findings in the context of other phenomena in which emotion regulation concerns may conflict with the pursuit of other goals.

Examining five pathways on how self-control is associated with emotion regulation and affective well-being in daily life.

OBJECTIVE: Self-control is positively connected to well-being, but less is known about what, on the mechanistic level, explains this association. We hypothesized five pathways how this connection could be explained by emotion regulation, that is, by facilitating (a) strategy effectiveness, (b), adaptive strategy selection, (c) situation selection, (d) strategy variability, or (e) social sharing. METHOD: To explore these pathways, we integrated two ambulatory assessment data sets (N = 250 participants, N = 22,796 observations) that included assessments of participants' emotions and their emotion regulation efforts. RESULTS: We found that self-control was positively associated with affective well-being. Moreover, momentary but not trait self-control was associated with favoring adaptive and interpersonal strategy selection and less emotion regulation in general as well as with increased variability across strategies. However, these emotion regulation facets could not sufficiently explain the association between self-control and affective well-being. CONCLUSIONS: Our main conclusion is that emotion regulation is not a mediator of the strong relation between self-control and affective well-being. Instead, we found evidence for the affective benefits of employing ways of emotion regulation that are less taxing mentally, which we discuss in light of current knowledge about self-control and emotion regulation.

How mindfulness shapes the situational use of emotion regulation strategies in daily life.

Mindfulness is associated with a wide range of beneficial outcomes such as well-being. However, less is known about the mechanisms underlying these benefits. Some researchers suggest that the benefits could be driven by emotion regulation, either by improving the effectiveness of emotion regulation or by lessening the need for effortful emotion regulation. By using two longitudinal Ambulatory Assessment data sets (NStudy1 = 125, NStudy2 = 175), based on a six-week randomised controlled trial and a one-week study, we tested these competing notions in daily life and found support for the latter: Mindfulness, and especially its non-judgmental acceptance facet, was significantly associated with less use of emotion regulation strategies. However, mindfulness was not significantly associated with more effective emotion regulation strategy implementation. Moreover, the mindfulness training focusing on present-moment attention and awareness did not significantly influence emotion regulation. These findings demonstrate the importance of the non-judgmental acceptance component for emotion regulation and affective well-being.

A round peg in a square hole: strategy-situation fit of intra- and interpersonal emotion regulation strategies and controllability.

Although the importance of contextual factors is often recognised, research on emotion regulation strategies (ERS) has mainly focused so far on the effectiveness of ERS across situations. In the present research, we tested the strategy-situation fit hypothesis, which does not assume general effectiveness of ERS but instead stresses the importance of the congruency between ERS and the contexts in which they are used. Using a longitudinal Ambulatory Assessment dataset (N = 138), we found that controllability of a situation positively moderated the effectiveness of interpersonal ERS, such that, e.g. providing feedback to others was significantly associated with less positive feelings but only in less controllable situations. Intrapersonal ERS were negatively moderated by controllability, such that downplaying a negative situation was associated with less negative feelings in less controllable situations. Finally, favouring interpersonal over intrapersonal ERS was also positively moderated by controllability, demonstrating the situational fit of ERS in daily life.

Examining demand effects on direct and indirect affect measures in affect induction procedures.

Affect induction procedures are effectively implemented in psychological research. However, because participants are typically asked to self-report their affect immediately after viewing emotional stimuli, the goal of eliciting affect is relatively easy for participants to infer, making their responses susceptible to demand effects. To examine this demand effect, research has used an unrelated-studies paradigm, in which participants are led to believe that they are participating in two different, unrelated studies. While this paradigm has been used in some studies using affect induction procedures, none have examined the extent of demand effects in affect induction procedures. To do so, we conducted six online experiments (N = 170, N = 254, N = 664, N = 260, N = 239, N = 249) by contrasting an unrelated- with a related-studies design. The participants in the related-studies condition were to believe that the affect measurement after the induction belonged to the same pretest as the affect induction, whereas the participants in the unrelated-studies condition were to believe that this measurement was part of a second, unrelated pretest. We found that a related- versus unrelated-studies design produced a significant demand effect for both positive and negative affect, as indicated by greater increases in positive and negative affect in the related-studies compared with the unrelated-studies condition. Demand effects were also found on some indirect measures of affect, as reflected by a significantly smaller self-reported momentary thought-action repertoire, but not by worse memory performance or more distrust in the related-studies condition. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The Costs and Benefits of Mindfulness and Reappraisal in Daily Life.

Reappraisal and mindfulness represent two fundamentally different but interconnected ways of dealing with one's emotions: whereas reappraisal is aimed at changing one's thoughts and emotions, mindfulness is aimed at not immediately changing, but appreciating them. Despite this difference, prior research has shown that both are beneficial for one's affective well-being. However, research on the spontaneous use of reappraisal and mindfulness in daily life found that they might be differentially associated with positive and negative affect, with reappraisal and mindful attention being more strongly associated with increased positive affect and mindful acceptance with decreased negative affect. Moreover, the spontaneous use of reappraisal may be less effective than mindfulness in daily life given that it is more cognitively taxing. To compare these possibly different benefits (i.e., change in positive and negative affect) and costs (i.e., feeling depleted), we re-analyzed two experience sampling studies (N = 125 and N = 179). Regarding benefits, endorsing reappraisal and mindful attention was significantly associated with increases in positive affect, whereas endorsing mindful acceptance was significantly associated with decreases in negative affect. Regarding costs, we found that endorsing reappraisal led to more depletion and that reappraisal was selected less often than mindfulness in daily life. Our results demonstrate the importance of assessing not only the different benefits but also the costs of emotion regulation in daily life. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42761-022-00178-7.

Be Kind to Yourself: the Implications of Momentary Self-Compassion for Affective Dynamics and Well-Being in Daily Life.

Objectives: While self-compassion (SC) has mostly been understood as a stable trait-like property, growing evidence suggests that it may fluctuate over time within a given individual. However, little is known on how these fluctuations relate to affective well-being and affective dynamics, such as emotional inertia and stress reactivity in daily life. Methods: A sample of 119 non-clinical individuals (mean age: 31.3 years, 53.8% female) completed a 7-day smartphone-based ecological momentary assessment study with six semi-random signals per day. With each signal, individuals reported their momentary positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA), recent SC, and occurrence and perceived strain of daily hassles since the last signal. Results: Whenever individuals reported higher recent SC than usual, they experienced higher momentary PA and lower momentary NA. Moreover, higher recent SC related to lower stress reactivity in terms of lower decrease of PA and lower increase of NA following the experience of daily hassles. No associations between SC and emotional inertia were found. When distinguishing between the positive components (SC-Pos) and negative components (SC-Neg) of SC, SC-Neg (compared to SC-Pos) was more strongly connected to NA, while SC-Pos and SC-Neg were similarly connected to PA. SC-Pos was associated with an attenuated NA stress reactivity, and SC-Neg with an increased NA stress reactivity. SC-Pos and SC-Neg did not significantly moderate PA stress reactivity nor emotional inertia. Conclusions: Results show that the benefits of SC for well-being and stress reactivity may unfold whenever we treat ourselves with compassion, irrespective of how self-compassionate we are in general. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12671-022-02050-y.

How much variance can event intensity and emotion regulation strategies explain in momentary affect in daily life?

Research based on the process model of emotion regulation has largely focused on affective outcomes of four prominent emotion regulation strategies: distraction, rumination, reappraisal, and suppression. We identified two areas that are relatively understudied regarding the prediction of affect in daily life: (a) comparing the importance of these four strategies to the subjective experience of event intensity and (b) including additional emotion regulation strategies that focus more on positive than negative affect. In two ecological momentary assessment data sets (Nindividuals = 299), we found that event intensity explained an average of 14.8% (4.9% to 25.9%) of the total variance in momentary affect above the variance explained by emotion regulation strategies. In turn, emotion regulation strategies explained an average of 8.3% (2.4% to 19.6%) in additional total variance in momentary affect. The added predictive power of emotion regulation strategies above event intensity was improved when strategies more specific to positive affect (ΔR² = 5.1%) were included. These results highlight avenues for future research that include strategies that focus on the selection and modification of an emotionally relevant situation and on positive affect. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Emotion regulation dynamics in daily life: Adaptive strategy use may be variable without being unstable and predictable without being autoregressive.

Recent research has demonstrated the adaptiveness of variability in emotion regulation (ER) by showing that variability between and, when controlled for depression, within ER strategies as assessed via the standard deviation was associated with less negative affect. We first replicated associations with negative affect by using the relative standard deviation, which is less confounded with the mean. Second, following research on affect dynamics, we extended this line of research by examining five additional ER dynamic measures covering ER instability, inertia, predictability, differentiation, and diversity. Reanalyzing data from five ambulatory assessment data sets (N = 717), we found that (a) the eight ER dynamic measures loaded on five factors that explained unique variance, (b) most ER dynamic measures had good reliabilities, and (c) between-strategy mean endorsement was positively, whereas between-strategy variability and ER predictability were negatively associated with negative affect. These results suggest that the variable but predictable use of emotion regulation strategies in daily life is beneficial for individuals' affective well-being in daily life. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Like clouds in a windy sky: Mindfulness training reduces negative affect reactivity in daily life in a randomized controlled trial.

While prior research has found mindfulness to be linked with emotional responses to events, less is known about this effect in a non-clinical sample. Even less is known regarding the mechanisms of the underlying processes: It is unclear whether participants who exhibit increased acceptance show decreased emotional reactivity (i.e., lower affective responses towards events overall) or a speedier emotional recovery (i.e., subsequent decrease in negative affect) due to adopting an accepting stance. To address these questions, we re-analysed two Ambulatory Assessment data sets. The first (NStudy1 = 125) was a 6-week randomized controlled trial (including a 40-day ambulatory assessment); the second (NStudy2 = 175) was a 1-week ambulatory assessment study. We found state mindfulness to be more strongly associated with emotional reactivity than with recovery, and that only emotional reactivity was significantly dampened by mindfulness training. Regarding the different facets of mindfulness, we found that the strongest predictor of both emotional reactivity and recovery was non-judgemental acceptance. Finally, we found that being aware of one's own thoughts and behaviour could be beneficial or detrimental for emotional recovery, depending on whether participants accepted their thoughts and emotions. Together, these findings provide evidence for predictions derived from the monitoring and acceptance theory.

A mind full of happiness: How mindfulness shapes affect dynamics in daily life.

Mindfulness plays an important role in moderating affect dynamics. To date, associations between mindfulness and affect dynamics have mostly been examined with mindfulness as a trait-like characteristic. However, examining associations between momentary mindfulness and affect dynamics could reveal important within-person processes underlying mindfulness and wellbeing. The present study first examined dispositional mindfulness as a 1-dimensional as well as a multifaceted construct in relation to affect dynamics (instability, inertia, and valence switch). We further investigated how momentary mindfulness predicts affect dynamics, and how training momentary mindfulness with a mindfulness training influences affect dynamics in daily life. A final sample of 125 undergraduate students took part in a 6-week randomized controlled trial, either engaging in a low-intensity mindfulness training (n = 61) or being part of a wait-list control condition (n = 64). We assessed participants' low and high arousal positive (PA) and negative affect (NA) and their momentary mindfulness 6 times a day for 40 consecutive days by implementing an ambulatory assessment (AA) protocol during either the mindfulness training or waiting period, respectively. We found that the dispositional mindfulness facet present-awareness was negatively associated with low arousal NA inertia and a lower switching propensity. However, we found momentary mindfulness to be positively associated with low arousal PA inertia, a lower switching propensity to NA and less instability. Furthermore, participants who practiced mindfulness experienced reduced low arousal NA inertia. These findings demonstrate that momentary mindfulness may be helpful in promoting adaptive affect experiences and maintaining PA, which could ultimately foster affective well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

The effects of computer-based mindfulness training on Self-control and Mindfulness within Ambulatorily assessed network Systems across Health-related domains in a healthy student population (SMASH): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Self-control is an important ability in everyday life, showing associations with health-related outcomes. The aim of the Self-control and Mindfulness within Ambulatorily assessed network Systems across Health-related domains (SMASH) study is twofold: first, the effectiveness of a computer-based mindfulness training will be evaluated in a randomized controlled trial. Second, the SMASH study implements a novel network approach in order to investigate complex temporal interdependencies of self-control networks across several domains. METHODS: The SMASH study is a two-armed, 6-week, non-blinded randomized controlled trial that combines seven weekly laboratory meetings and 40 days of electronic diary assessments with six prompts per day in a healthy undergraduate student population at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany. Participants will be randomly assigned to (1) receive a computer-based mindfulness intervention or (2) to a wait-list control condition. Primary outcomes are self-reported momentary mindfulness and self-control assessed via electronic diaries. Secondary outcomes are habitual mindfulness and habitual self-control. Further measures include self-reported behaviors in specific self-control domains: emotion regulation, alcohol consumption and eating behaviors. The effects of mindfulness training on primary and secondary outcomes are explored using three-level mixed models. Furthermore, networks will be computed with vector autoregressive mixed models to investigate the dynamics at participant and group level. This study was approved by the local ethics committee (reference code 2015_JGU_psychEK_011) and follows the standards laid down in the Declaration of Helsinki (2013). DISCUSSION: This randomized controlled trial combines an intensive Ambulatory Assessment of 40 consecutive days and seven laboratory meetings. By implementing a novel network approach, underlying processes of self-control within different health domains will be identified. These results will deepen the understanding of self-control performance and will guide to just-in-time individual interventions for several health-related behaviors. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02647801 . Registered on 15 December 2015 (registered retrospectively). .

The Benefits of Self-Set Goals: Is Ego Depletion Really a Result of Self-Control Failure?

Research on ego depletion aims at explaining self-control failures in daily life. Both resource models and motivational accounts have been proposed for explanation. The aim of the present research was to test the different assumptions in two dual-task experiments where we operationalized ego depletion as a performance deviation from a self-set goal. In two experiments, we found evidence for this deviation contradicting motivational accounts of ego depletion: Participants experiencing ego depletion set themselves a stricter instead of a more lenient goal than controls, in that they chose to eat less cookies or wanted to perform better. Moreover, only participants without an initial self-control task could adhere to their self-set goal, whereas participants in the ego depletion condition in both experiments could not follow through with their more ambitious intentions. Taken together, our findings demonstrate the importance of goals in ego depletion research.