Self-Regulation 04
ALBERTS, H., SCHNEIDER, F., & MARTIJN, C. (2011). DEALING
EFFICIENTLY WITH EMOTIONS: ACCEPTANCE- BASED COPING
WITH NEGATIVE EMOTIONS REQUIRES FEWER RESOURCES
THAN SUPPRESSION. COGNITION AND EMOTION, 26, 863-870.
Control-based strategies;
- Eg. Suppression
- Aim to decrease the frequency + intensity of unwanted emotions
Limited strength model
- Applying these strategies requires resources
- Energy used for an initial self-control attempt is no longer available for later
attempts + thus leads to decreased self-control performance (=ego depletion)
A different way of dealing with emotions:
Acceptance
- people accept + experience the emotion fully, without attempting to
alter, avoid or control it
- Acceptance-based interventions: acceptance + commitment therapy 🡪 it it
involves a non-judgmental attitude toward emotions + required
willingness to stay in contact with the uncomfortable, often neg.,
feelings that accompanies the emotion, without reaction upon it
- Acceptance promotes the same regulated behavior as suppression,
however the emphasis is not on altering internal states, but rather on
changing one’s relationship to these states
- To a certain extent, applying acceptance may involve regulatory
processes + thus require resources 🡪 it acceptance of emotions entails the
overriding of automatic responses or processes 🡪 it people automatically
tend to approach pos. + avoid neg. stimuli
- Acceptance requires the regulation of attention 🡪 it staying focused in the
present emotional experience + recognise moments where attention
, shifts away from this experience
RESOURCES
Emotion regulation
= ability to reduce or control
negative emotions🡪 it emotions are
tolerated not controlled
It seems reasonable to assume that:
1. Acceptance-based emotion regulation relies on self-control + should
therefore lead to levels of resource depletion that are comparable to
other forms of self-control strategies
2. Acceptance requires regulation of attention 🡪 it eg. Staying focused on the
present emotional experience + recognize moments where attention shifts
away from experience
3. Successful self-control requires people to have a clear goal toward
which they are striving 🡪 it thus, controlling neg. emotion can be defined as
attempts to reduce the incongruence between a current neg. state +
an intended neutral or pos. state 🡪 it these attempts are a form of active
control + have been proposed to deplete regulatory resources
� hence, acceptance-based regulation is a different process, since
it does NOT involve the reduction of discrepancy between a current
state + a future goal state (it is a non-goal-oriented process)
� acceptance-based regulation includes that the person remains
unattached to a goal or specific outcome + thus there is NO need for
active control of emotions
🡺 THEREFORE, this article assumed that THEREFORE, this article assumed that acceptance of emotions may
require FEWER resources than goal-directed self-control attempts such as
suppression
THE PRESENT STUDY
Aim: exploring the extent to which acceptance-based regulation requires
regulatory resources
, - Ego depletion paradigm was used
- Ppl were first exposed to a sad video + were instructed to either:
a. Suppress OR
b. Accept (not trying to alter or avoid emotional
experience) their emotions while watching
this video
- Control ppl did not receive any instructions
- Performance on self-control task (Stop Signal Task) was measured
HYPOTHESIS
- Because control-group participants were not given any instructions +
thus were not required to exert self-control during the video, they
were expected to outperform those in the suppression group
- if acceptance requires fewer resources compared to suppression, then
self-control performance of participants in the acceptance condition
should be superior compared to participants in the suppression
condition
DISCUSSION
- People who accepted their emotions during a sad video outperformed
both participants who suppressed their emotions + control-group
participants on a subsequent self-control task🡪 it it implies that applying
acceptance-based coping is more efficient in terms of resource usage +
relies less on self-control compared to suppression
- People who did not receive regulation instructions performed equally
badly on the self-control task compared to those in the suppression
condition🡪 it this suggests that control-group participants exerted
control over their emotions during the video, possibly because they
preferred to avoid expression of emotions in the presence of an
experimenter
The observed differences in resource usage between acceptance + suppression
may be attributed to a differential monitor process:
- In acceptance: the function of the monitor process is detected when
attention shifts away from the experience in the present moment
- In goal-oriented forms of self-regulation (eg. Suppression ): the
ALBERTS, H., SCHNEIDER, F., & MARTIJN, C. (2011). DEALING
EFFICIENTLY WITH EMOTIONS: ACCEPTANCE- BASED COPING
WITH NEGATIVE EMOTIONS REQUIRES FEWER RESOURCES
THAN SUPPRESSION. COGNITION AND EMOTION, 26, 863-870.
Control-based strategies;
- Eg. Suppression
- Aim to decrease the frequency + intensity of unwanted emotions
Limited strength model
- Applying these strategies requires resources
- Energy used for an initial self-control attempt is no longer available for later
attempts + thus leads to decreased self-control performance (=ego depletion)
A different way of dealing with emotions:
Acceptance
- people accept + experience the emotion fully, without attempting to
alter, avoid or control it
- Acceptance-based interventions: acceptance + commitment therapy 🡪 it it
involves a non-judgmental attitude toward emotions + required
willingness to stay in contact with the uncomfortable, often neg.,
feelings that accompanies the emotion, without reaction upon it
- Acceptance promotes the same regulated behavior as suppression,
however the emphasis is not on altering internal states, but rather on
changing one’s relationship to these states
- To a certain extent, applying acceptance may involve regulatory
processes + thus require resources 🡪 it acceptance of emotions entails the
overriding of automatic responses or processes 🡪 it people automatically
tend to approach pos. + avoid neg. stimuli
- Acceptance requires the regulation of attention 🡪 it staying focused in the
present emotional experience + recognise moments where attention
, shifts away from this experience
RESOURCES
Emotion regulation
= ability to reduce or control
negative emotions🡪 it emotions are
tolerated not controlled
It seems reasonable to assume that:
1. Acceptance-based emotion regulation relies on self-control + should
therefore lead to levels of resource depletion that are comparable to
other forms of self-control strategies
2. Acceptance requires regulation of attention 🡪 it eg. Staying focused on the
present emotional experience + recognize moments where attention shifts
away from experience
3. Successful self-control requires people to have a clear goal toward
which they are striving 🡪 it thus, controlling neg. emotion can be defined as
attempts to reduce the incongruence between a current neg. state +
an intended neutral or pos. state 🡪 it these attempts are a form of active
control + have been proposed to deplete regulatory resources
� hence, acceptance-based regulation is a different process, since
it does NOT involve the reduction of discrepancy between a current
state + a future goal state (it is a non-goal-oriented process)
� acceptance-based regulation includes that the person remains
unattached to a goal or specific outcome + thus there is NO need for
active control of emotions
🡺 THEREFORE, this article assumed that THEREFORE, this article assumed that acceptance of emotions may
require FEWER resources than goal-directed self-control attempts such as
suppression
THE PRESENT STUDY
Aim: exploring the extent to which acceptance-based regulation requires
regulatory resources
, - Ego depletion paradigm was used
- Ppl were first exposed to a sad video + were instructed to either:
a. Suppress OR
b. Accept (not trying to alter or avoid emotional
experience) their emotions while watching
this video
- Control ppl did not receive any instructions
- Performance on self-control task (Stop Signal Task) was measured
HYPOTHESIS
- Because control-group participants were not given any instructions +
thus were not required to exert self-control during the video, they
were expected to outperform those in the suppression group
- if acceptance requires fewer resources compared to suppression, then
self-control performance of participants in the acceptance condition
should be superior compared to participants in the suppression
condition
DISCUSSION
- People who accepted their emotions during a sad video outperformed
both participants who suppressed their emotions + control-group
participants on a subsequent self-control task🡪 it it implies that applying
acceptance-based coping is more efficient in terms of resource usage +
relies less on self-control compared to suppression
- People who did not receive regulation instructions performed equally
badly on the self-control task compared to those in the suppression
condition🡪 it this suggests that control-group participants exerted
control over their emotions during the video, possibly because they
preferred to avoid expression of emotions in the presence of an
experimenter
The observed differences in resource usage between acceptance + suppression
may be attributed to a differential monitor process:
- In acceptance: the function of the monitor process is detected when
attention shifts away from the experience in the present moment
- In goal-oriented forms of self-regulation (eg. Suppression ): the
