Launching reappraisal: It’s less common than you might think.

Abstract

Cognitive reappraisal is thought to be ubiquitous. However, no studies have quantified how frequently people reappraise (vs. letting their emotional response go unregulated). To address this issue, the authors created a laboratory decision context in which participants watched a series of negatively valenced images, and in each case had the option of electing to reappraise to decrease negative affect. Given the many benefits and few costs associated with reappraisal, we expected that most images would be reappraised. However, to our surprise, participants implemented reappraisals for only 16% of images (Study 1). Regulatory rates remained low for both low- and high-intensity images, even when another regulatory option (i.e., distraction) was available (Study 2). The authors hypothesized that participants did not proactively reappraise because there were hidden costs associated with reappraisal. They considered 2 classes of costs: overcoming default bias and cognitive effort, and they measured the percentage of trials for which participants chose to reappraise using a fully crossed 2 × 2 design that examined the effects of removing defaults and of providing support in creating reappraisals. Removing defaults, but not providing reappraisal support, increased rates of reappraisal (Study 3). Everyday decision-making frequently involves default options. These results suggest that contextual variables (such as the presence of defaults) may play a large role in the decision to regulate emotions.

Emotion regulation in context: Examining the spontaneous use of strategies across emotional intensity and type of emotion

“…Recent work finds that, when possible, participants report using multiple ER strategies in response to brief stressors (e.g., Aldao & Nolen-Hoeksema, 2013;Heiy & Cheavens, 2014). Our findings mirror recent research indicating low endorsement of reappraisal even at low emotional intensities (Suri, Whittaker, & Gross, 2014), presumably due to hidden costs (such as the high level of required effort) associated with this strategy.…”

Narratives About Specific Romantic Conflicts: Gender and Associations With Conflict Beliefs and Strategies

“…In addition, perspective taking may be particularly challenging in romantic conflict situations characterized by strong feelings about unmet needs. In an experimental study, Suri, Whittaker, and Gross () found that proactive reappraisal of negative experiences to reformulate their meaning is more difficult than previously thought. Other narrative research on emerging adults' self‐defining memories found that the ability to gain insight into conflict situations with peers and family is uncommon (McLean & Thorne, ).…”

A conceptual framework for the neurobiological study of resilience

“…Hence, it seems that reappraisal is maladaptive when stressors can be controlled (i.e., when the situation can be modified by means of active coping), therefore calling into question the "unconditional" link between reappraisal and resilience. Perhaps as a consequence of these moderator effects of both intensity and controllability of the stressor, individuals surprisingly rarely chose cognitive reappraisal as an emotionregulation strategy when they were free to do so (Suri et al 2014).…”