Applying Psychological Principles In Our Organizations

Just-in-Time Adaptive Interventions for Emotion Regulation

While theatre education can support children’s development of skills, adults too can practice and strengthen their emotion regulation abilities. In the labs of psychologists Dr. Reeshad Dalal^[1] and Dr. Seth Kaplan^[2] at George Mason University, researchers study emotion regulation from an industrial-organizational psychologist’s perspective: in the workplace. They created the infographic below (Fig. 6.3) to share their research. This infographic focuses on effective emotion regulation in the workplace, but, when you examine it, think about what these strategies might look like when applied to non-work situations as well. These tools can be used by anyone looking to manage their emotions.

Effective Strategies

Dalal and Kaplan found that the most effective strategy to help manage negative emotions and maintain positive ones was reappraising the situation. This means reframing the way you think about the situation even if it feels negative by looking for any positive outcomes from it. Another somewhat effective emotion regulation strategy was reappraising the emotion itself, meaning accepting whatever emotion you are feeling as normal instead of bad and reminding yourself the emotion won’t last forever. The last strategy, perspective-taking, was found to be the least effective of the three. Perspective-taking is when you try to separate yourself from the situation to be neutral. The researchers found these emotional regulation strategies to be helpful in the context of being more productive and having better performance at work.

These findings about effective emotion regulation were limited to the context of employee well-being and job performance, but the strategies can also be effective in other areas of life. Reappraising situations and emotions, and acting as a neutral observer are emotion regulation tools used in a variety of contexts. If the effectiveness of emotion regulation strategies was studied in a family or school context, do you think the results would be different? If so, which one do you think would be more effective?

It is important to note that emotion regulation is not emotion suppression – which is a coping strategy that can be unhealthy. When emotion is suppressed, the person does not identify, acknowledge, or express it and this can lead to negative physical and relational consequences. Our emotions are important signals that help us to function well – and should not be ignored. Emotion regulation on the other hand, is a skill that can help you manage negative emotions before they become overwhelming and overpower life experiences.