Emotion regulation: affective, cognitive, and social consequences.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review synthesizing experimental and correlational studies without systematic review methodology
PubMed 12212647 · doi:10.1017/s0048577201393198
What was done
This narrative review evaluated experimental and individual-difference research within the framework of Gross's process model of emotion regulation. It examined the affective, cognitive, and social consequences of two specific down-regulation strategies: cognitive reappraisal, which acts early in the emotion-generative process by altering situation construal, and expressive suppression, which acts late by inhibiting outward emotional expression.
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical findings or effect sizes. Qualitatively, reappraisal decreased subjective emotional experience and behavioral expression while leaving memory unaffected. Conversely, expressive suppression decreased behavioral expression but failed to reduce subjective emotional experience, impaired memory, and increased physiological responding in suppressors and their social partners.
Why it matters
This synthesis provides a theoretical and empirical framework showing that early antecedent-focused emotion regulation strategies like reappraisal are generally more effective and cognitively and socially less costly than late response-focused strategies like suppression.
Limits
The abstract provides no quantitative data, effect sizes, sample sizes, or count of included studies. As a narrative review, it lacks a systematic search methodology, standardized inclusion criteria, and formal risk-of-bias assessment.
Cited by
- supports James Gross's foundational model of emotion regulation focused on mechanisms including suppression, cognitive reappraisal, and acceptance.