Emotion Regulation Strategies in Educational, Work and Sport Contexts: An Approach in Five Countries.

One of the greatest challenges in the domain of emotional regulation is comprehending the functionality of strategies and their utilization in various social contexts. In this sense, this study analyzes differences in the use and efficacy of regulation strategies, particularly of interpersonal strategies like altruism, social support, negotiation, mediation, regulation, and rituals, in samples of workers (N = 687) and students (N = 959) from Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Spain, and Uruguay, and athletes (N =144) from Spain. Participants answered questions pertaining to measures of affect or emotional regulation (MARS and ERQ self-regulation scales and EROS heteroregulation), as well as questions of a wellbeing scale (PHI) and questions related to emotional creativity (ECI), humor styles (HSQ), and adjustment to stress. Athletes reported less emotional discharge, use of humor, and affection, and greater confrontation and use of rituals than students and workers. A congruent relationship was found between the use of functional strategies (like direct coping, distraction, reevaluation, and active physiological regulation) and adjustment to stress, well-being, and creativity. Seeking social support, negotiation, and, to an extent, altruism, confirmed their predicted adaptive character. Mediation and delegation did not confirm their predicted adaptive character. Rumination, social comparison, rituals, confrontation, and suppression were maladaptive for workers and students, but the first four strategies were functional for athletes, who display a higher self-control and a more team-oriented and competitive emotional culture. Finally, the results show that adaptive regulation strategies mediate the relationship between well-being and adjustment to stress.

Examining the Structure of Negative Affect Regulation and Its Association With Hedonic and Psychological Wellbeing.

The present study examines the structure of negative affect regulation strategies by confirmatory factor analysis. A total of 264 students (n = 187 women, 65 men) (M = 24 years; SD = 9.32) took part in this study. Results show a good fit indices for a three facets model: (1) modification of situation (problem-directed action, seeking emotional and instrumental social support, psychological abandonment and social isolation); (2) attentional deployment and cognitive change (distraction, acceptance, gratitude, rumination, reappraisal, spirituality, and social comparison); and (3) response modification (suppression, active and passive physiological, humor and warmth, venting, confrontation, and regulated emotional expression). The scale validity is confirmed through correlations between the expanded of Mood Affect Regulation Scale dimensions including dimensions of dispositional reappraisal and suppression, and hedonic and psychological well-being. Participants report an adaptive profile with high psychological well-being, even if they report low positive affect, suggesting a greater relevance of eudaimonic than hedonic well-being for affect regulation.