RESEARCH PAPER
The mediating role of emotion regulation in the emotional complexity and subjective
well-being relationship
| 1 | Rajiv Gandhi University, Arunachal Pradesh, India |
| 2 | Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India |
Submission date: 2021-05-22
Final revision date: 2022-01-11
Acceptance date: 2022-02-15
Online publication date: 2022-03-25
Current Issues in Personality Psychology 2022;10(4):277–286
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Introduction:
Emotional complexity involves greater emotional awareness and understanding and associates strongly with adaptive emo-tion regulation. Similarly, regulation of emotion is vital for achieving, restoring, and sustaining subjective well-being. The present study, therefore, tested the mediatory role of emotion regulatory processes in the relationship between emotional complexity and subjective well-being.
Participants and procedure:
A total of 285 participants completed self-report measures of emotional complexity, emotion regulation, positive/negative affect, and life satisfaction, and the data were analyzed using correlations and structural equation modelling.
Results:
Findings indicated that individuals high in emotional complexity experience greater subjective well-being. Moreover, the results revealed that reappraisal mediated the relationship of emotion differentiation with positive affect and life satisfac-tion whereas suppression mediated the relationship between the range of emotions and life satisfaction.
Conclusions:
These findings underscore the significance of emotion regulation in mediating the relationship between emotional complexi-ty and subjective well-being.
Emotional complexity involves greater emotional awareness and understanding and associates strongly with adaptive emo-tion regulation. Similarly, regulation of emotion is vital for achieving, restoring, and sustaining subjective well-being. The present study, therefore, tested the mediatory role of emotion regulatory processes in the relationship between emotional complexity and subjective well-being.
Participants and procedure:
A total of 285 participants completed self-report measures of emotional complexity, emotion regulation, positive/negative affect, and life satisfaction, and the data were analyzed using correlations and structural equation modelling.
Results:
Findings indicated that individuals high in emotional complexity experience greater subjective well-being. Moreover, the results revealed that reappraisal mediated the relationship of emotion differentiation with positive affect and life satisfac-tion whereas suppression mediated the relationship between the range of emotions and life satisfaction.
Conclusions:
These findings underscore the significance of emotion regulation in mediating the relationship between emotional complexi-ty and subjective well-being.
REFERENCES (59)
1.
Barrett, L. F., & Gross, J. J. (2001). Emotional intelligence: a process model of emotion representation and regulation. In T. J. Mayne & G. A. Bonanno (Eds.), Emotions and social behavior. Emotions: Currrent issues and future directions (pp. 286–310). Guilford Press.
2.
Barrett, L. F., Gross, J., Christensen, T. C., & Benvenuto, M. (2001). Knowing what you’re feeling and knowing what to do about it: Mapping the relation between emotion differentiation and emotion regulation. Cognition & Emotion, 15, 713–724. https://doi.org/10.1080/026999....
4.
Boden, M. T., Thompson, R. J., Dizén, M., Berenbaum, H., & Baker, J. P. (2013). Are emotional clarity and emotion differentiation related? Cognition & Emotion, 27, 961–978. https://doi.org/10.1080/026999....
5.
De Rivera, J. (1984). The structure of emotional relationships. Review of Personality & Social Psychology, 5, 116–145.
6.
Demiralp, E., Thompson, R. J., Mata, J., Jaeggi, S. M., Buschkuehl, M., Barrett, L. F., Ellsworth, P. C., Demiralp, M., Hernandez-Garcia, L., Deldin, P. J., Gotlib, I. H., & Jonides, J. (2012). Feeling blue or turquoise? Emotional differentiation in major depressive disorder. Psychological Science, 23, 1410–1416. https://doi.org/10.1177/095679....
7.
Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 95, 542–575. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2....
8.
Diener, E. D., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The Satisfaction with Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71–75. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327....
9.
Diener, E., Oishi, S., & Lucas, R. E. (2003). Personality, culture, and subjective well-being: Emotional and cognitive evaluations of life. Annual Review of Psychology, 54, 403–425. https://doi.org/10.1146/annure....
10.
Dubey, A., & Pandey, R. (2011). Hindi adaptation and psychometric evaluation of revised SCL-90-R [Unpublished manuscript].
11.
Eftekhari, A., Zoellner, L. A., & Vigil, S. A. (2009). Patterns of emotion regulation and psychopathology. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 22, 571–586. https://doi.org/10.1080/106158....
12.
Erbas, Y., Ceulemans, E., Boonen, J., Noens, I., & Kuppens, P. (2013). Emotion differentiation in autism spectrum disorder. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 7, 1221–1227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd....
13.
Erbas, Y., Ceulemans, E., Lee Pe, M., Koval, P., & Kuppens, P. (2014). Negative emotion differentiation: Its personality and well-being correlates and a comparison of different assessment methods. Cognition and Emotion, 28, 1196–1213. https://doi.org/10.1080/026999....
14.
Gohm, C. L. (2003). Mood regulation and emotional intelligence: Individual differences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 594–607. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3....
15.
Gross, J. J., & John, O. P. (2003). Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: Implications for affect, relationships, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 348–362. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3....
16.
Hay, E. L., & Diehl, M. (2011). Emotion complexity and emotion regulation across adulthood. European Journal of Ageing, 8, 157–168. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433....
17.
Higgins, E. T., Bond, R. N., Klein, R., & Strauman, T. (1986). Self-discrepancies and emotional vulnerability: How magnitude, accessibility, and type of discrepancy influence affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 5–15. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3....
18.
Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cut-off criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 1–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/107055....
19.
John, O. P., & Gross, J. J. (2004). Healthy and unhealthy emotion regulation: Personality processes, individual differences, and life span development. Journal of Personality, 72, 1301–1334. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467....
20.
Joreskog, K. G., & Sorbom, D. (1993). LISREL 8: Structural equation modeling with the SIMPLIS command language. Scientific Software International.
21.
Kang, S. M., & Shaver, P. R. (2004). Individual differences in emotional complexity: Their psychological implications. Journal of Personality, 72, 687–726. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0022....
22.
Kashdan, T. B., Ferssizidis, P., Collins, R. L., & Muraven, M. (2010a). Emotion differentiation as resilience against excessive alcohol use: an ecological momentary assessment in underage social drinkers. Psychological Science, 21, 1341–1347. https://doi.org/10.1177/095679....
23.
Kashdan, T. B., Breen, W. E., & Julian, T. (2010b). Everyday strivings in war veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder: Suffering from a hyper-focus on avoidance and emotional regulation. Behavior Therapy, 41, 350–363. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth....
24.
Khetrapal, N., Gupta, R., & Baijal, S. (2007). Hindi version of ER Questionnaire of Gross & John, 2003. University of Allahabad, India. Retrieved from http://spl.stanford.edu/pdfs/E....
25.
Kokkonen, M., & Kinnunen, M. L. (2006). Emotional regulation and well-being. In L. Pulkkinen, J. Kaprio, & R. J. Rose (Eds.), Socioemotional development and health from adolescence to adulthood (pp. 197–208). Cambridge University Press.
26.
Lane, R. D., & Schwartz, G. E. (1987). Levels of emotional awareness: a cognitive developmental theory and its application to psychopathology. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 144, 133–143.
27.
Lane, R. D., & Schwartz, G. E. (1992). Levels of emotional awareness: Implications for psychotherapeutic integration. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 2, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1037/h01012....
28.
Lennarz, H. K., Lichtwarck-Aschoff, A., Timmerman, M. E., & Granic, I. (2018). Emotion differentiation and its relation with emotional well-being in adolescents. Cognition and Emotion, 32, 651–657. https://doi.org/10.1080/026999....
29.
Lindquist, K. A., & Barrett, L. F. (2008). Emotional complexity. In M. Lewis, J. M. Haviland-Jones, & L. F. Barrett (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (pp. 513–530). Guilford Press.
30.
Mandal, S. P., Arya, Y. K., & Pandey, R. (2016). Validation of factor structure and measurement of invariance of range and differentiation of emotional experience scale. Paper presented at the 4th International Conference on Recent Advances in Cognition and Health. Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi.
31.
Matsumoto, D., Yoo, S. H., Hirayama, S., & Petrova, G. (2005). Development and validation of a measure of display rule knowledge: The display rule assessment inventory. Emotion, 5, 23–40. https://doi.org/10.1037/1528-3....
32.
McRae, K., Jacobs, S. E., Ray, R. D., John, O. P., & Gross, J. J. (2012). Individual differences in reappraisal ability: Links to reappraisal frequency, well-being, and cognitive control. Journal of Research in Personality, 46, 2–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.....
33.
Pandey, R., & Srivastava, N. (2008). Psychometric evaluation of a Hindi version of Positive-Negative Affect Schedule. Industrial Psychiatry Journal, 17, 59–54.
34.
Richards, J. M., & Gross, J. J. (1999). Composure at any cost? The cognitive consequences of emotion suppression. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25, 1033–1044. https://doi.org/10.1177/.
36.
Richards, J. M., & Gross, J. J. (2000). Emotion regulation and memory: The cognitive costs of keeping one’s cool. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 410–424. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-....
37.
Salovey, P., Rothman, A. J., Detweiler, J. B., & Steward, W. T. (2000). Emotional states and physical health. American Psychologist, 55, 110–121. https://doi.org/10.1037//0003-....
38.
Schwarz, N., & Clore, G. L. (1996). Feelings and phenomenal experiences. In E. T. Higgins & A. W. Kruglanski (Eds.), Social psychology: Handbook of basic principles (pp. 433–465). Guilford Press.
39.
Swinkels, A., & Giuliano, T. A. (1995). The measurement and conceptualization of mood awareness: Monitoring and labeling one’s mood states. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21, 934–949. https://doi.org/10.1177/014616....
40.
Taylor, G. J., Bagby, R. M., & Parker, J. D. A. (1997). Disorders of affect regulation: Alexithymia in medical and psychiatric illness. Cambridge University Press.
41.
Tottenham, N., Hare, T. A., & Casey, B. J. (2011). Behavioral assessment of emotion discrimination, ER, and cognitive control in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Frontiers in Psychology, 2, 39. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.....
42.
Vingerhoets, A. J., Nyklícek, I., & Denollet, J. (2008). Emotion regulation: Conceptual and clinical issues. Springer Science + Business Media.
43.
Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 1063–1070. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3....
44.
Wessman, A. E., & Ricks, D. F. (1966). Mood and personality. Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.
46.
Barrett, L. F., & Gross, J. J. (2001). Emotional intelligence: a process model of emotion representation and regula-tion. In T. J. Mayne & G. A. Bonanno (Eds.), Emotions and social behavior. Emotions: Currrent issues and future directions (pp. 286–310). Guilford Press.
47.
Demiralp, E., Thompson, R. J., Mata, J., Jaeggi, S. M., Buschkuehl, M., Barrett, L. F., Ellsworth, P. C., Demiralp, M., Hernandez-Garcia, L., Deldin, P. J., Gotlib, I. H., & Jonides, J. (2012). Feeling blue or turquoise? Emotional dif-ferentiation in major depressive disorder. Psychological Science, 23, 1410–1416. https://doi.org/10.1177/095679....
48.
Diener, E. D., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The Satisfaction with Life Scale. Journal of Personal-ity Assessment, 49, 71–75. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327....
49.
Erbas, Y., Ceulemans, E., Lee Pe, M., Koval, P., & Kuppens, P. (2014). Negative emotion differentiation: Its person-ality and well-being correlates and a comparison of different assessment methods. Cognition and Emotion, 28, 1196–1213. https://doi.org/10.1080/026999....
50.
Gross, J. J., & John, O. P. (2003). Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: Implications for af-fect, relationships, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 348–362. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3....
51.
John, O. P., & Gross, J. J. (2004). Healthy and unhealthy emotion regulation: Personality processes, individual dif-ferences, and life span development. Journal of Personality, 72, 1301–1334. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467....
52.
Kang, S. M., & Shaver, P. R. (2004). Individual differences in emotional complexity: Their psychological implica-tions. Journal of Personality, 72, 687–726. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0022....
53.
Lane, R. D., & Schwartz, G. E. (1992). Levels of emotional awareness: Implications for psychotherapeutic integra-tion. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 2, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1037/h01012....
54.
Matsumoto, D., Yoo, S. H., Hirayama, S., & Petrova, G. (2005). Development and validation of a measure of dis-play rule knowledge: The display rule assessment inventory. Emotion, 5, 23–40. https://doi.org/10.1037/1528-3....
55.
Pandey, R., & Srivastava, N. (2008). Psychometric evaluation of a Hindi version of Positive-Negative Affect Sched-ule. Industrial Psychiatry Journal, 17, 59–54.
56.
Salovey, P., Rothman, A. J., Detweiler, J. B., & Steward, W. T. (2000). Emotional states and physical health. Ameri-can Psychologist, 55, 110–121. https://doi.org/10.1037//0003-....
57.
Taylor, G. J., Bagby, R. M., & Parker, J. D. A. (1997). Disorders of affect regulation: Alexithymia in medical and psy-chiatric illness. Cambridge University Press.
58.
Tottenham, N., Hare, T. A., & Casey, B. J. (2011). Behavioral assessment of emotion discrimination, ER, and cogni-tive control in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Frontiers in Psychology, 2, 39. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.....
59.
Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and nega-tive affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 1063–1070. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3....
Copyright: © Institute of Psychology, University of Gdansk This is an Open Access journal, all articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/), allowing third parties to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and to remix, transform, and build upon the material, provided the original work is properly cited and states its license.
RELATED ARTICLE
We process personal data collected when visiting the website. The function of obtaining information about users and their behavior is carried out by voluntarily entered information in forms and saving cookies in end devices. Data, including cookies, are used to provide services, improve the user experience and to analyze the traffic in accordance with the Privacy policy. Data are also collected and processed by Google Analytics tool (more).
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.