Reappraisal inventiveness: The ability to create different reappraisals of critical situations

Abstract

In this article, we propose a new ability approach to reappraisal that focuses on individual differences in the ability to spontaneously generate different reappraisals for critical situations. Adopting concepts from the realms of creativity and divergent thinking, we developed the Reappraisal Inventiveness Test (RIT) to measure a person's fluency and flexibility in inventing as many categorically different reappraisals for an anger-eliciting situation as possible within a limited period of time. The results of two studies in which we examined the psychometric characteristics of the RIT provided evidence that the RIT produces reliable test scores. The construct validity of the RIT was confirmed by positive associations of reappraisal inventiveness with openness to experience and tests that measure divergent thinking. Moreover, RIT performance proved to be unrelated to the self-reported habitual use of reappraisal, indicating differences between ability tests and self-report measures. RIT performance was not significantly related to Neuroticism or to trait anger. In our view, this points to the notion that effective emotion regulation is a function of both the ability and the motivation to act upon one's ability to generate reappraisals for critical situations.

The capacity for generating cognitive reappraisals is reflected in asymmetric activation of frontal brain regions

“…A student sample was chosen, because the used version of the behavioral test of the capacity for generating cognitive reappraisals (Weber et al 2014) had been tailored for a student population (the items include negative experiences that students can easily imagine happening to them). Individuals who reported having a neuropsychiatric disease or using psychoactive medication were not included in the study.…”

“…While widely used in psychology (e.g., intelligence tests) and several medical disciplines such as neurology (e.g., motor performance tests) and psychiatry (e.g., neuropsychological testing), the use of maximum performance measures, capturing what individuals are theoretically capable of doing, is a novel concept in psychotherapy research. The theoretical capacity for generating cognitive reappraisals can be regarded a direct prerequisite for the ability to effectively implement cognitive reappraisal in everyday life (Weber et al 2014). …”

“…Therefore, in the present study the participants’ capacity for cognitive reappraisal was correlated with the EEG alpha asymmetry recorded directly while they were generating reappraisals. We used the Reappraisal Inventiveness Test (Weber et al 2014), in which participants are instructed to imagine given anger-eliciting situations happening to them and to generate as many different ways as possible to reappraise the situation in a way that diminishes their anger. Participants’ responses to these items were recorded and were used for the assessment of the participants’ capacity for generating cognitive reappraisals.…”

“…The generation of reappraisals may at least in part rely on basic executive functions such as the inhibition of highly activated or prepotent representations, memory updating, and cognitive switching (Joormann and Gotlib 2010; Malooly et al 2013; Weber et al 2014). In line with this, research suggested that an individual’s executive functioning determines the success of using cognitive reappraisal in terms of reducing negative affect (Pe et al 2013a, b; Schmeichel et al 2008).…”

Cognitive Costs of Reappraisal Depend on Both Emotional Stimulus Intensity and Individual Differences in Habitual Reappraisal

“…In addition, exposing participants to four sessions of reappraisal training increased their ability to reduce their negative feelings when viewing negative pictures as well as their experience of stress in their lives [19]. Other studies have found no association between self-reported use of reappraisal in everyday life and reappraisal ability as measured in laboratory tasks [20,21]. However, we have been unable to find research directly assessing how the cognitive costs of reappraisal vary for individuals with more or less frequent use of reappraisal.…”