The aim of this study was to explore which group-based emotion regulation goals and strategies are offered in the group culture of Jehovah's Witnesses (JWS). Based on interviews with 29 group-active JWS in Norway, a thematic analysis was conducted in which an overall pattern of cognition taking precedence over emotions was found. Due to endtime expectations and a long-term goal of eternal life in Paradise, future emotions were prioritized. The emotion regulation strategies identified among JWS were social sharing and the (...) interconnected cognitive reappraisal. A new concept, emotional forecasting, was introduced, describing a reappraisal tactic of regulation using prospects of future emotions to regulate the here and now. It was concluded that the prospection of the future is a strong regulator of emotions of the here and now and should be included in psychological models of emotion regulation. (shrink)

In this article, we introduce a theory on the dynamic development of affective processes, affect regulation, and the relationship between emotions and sport performance. The theory focusses on how affective processes emerge and develop during competitive sport involvement. Based on Scherer’s component process model, we postulate six components of emotion that interact with each other in a circular fashion: triggering processes, physiological reactions, action tendencies, expressive behaviors, subjective experience, and higher cognitive processes. The theory stresses the dynamics of affective processes (...) and describes the consequences for performance in competitive sports. It assumes that the peculiarities of different sports must be taken into account in order to understand the affective processes, and offers starting points on which strategies can be used to effectively regulate affective states. Consequences for research and practice are derived and discussed. To study the development of affective processes, future research should test the assumptions in ecologically valid contexts, such as real competitions or competition-like situations, using multi-component measures of emotions. (shrink)

Cognitive reappraisal is an important emotion regulation strategy that shows considerable developmental change in its use and effectiveness. This paper presents a systematic review of the evidence base regarding the development of cognitive reappraisal from early childhood through adolescence and provides methodological recommendations for future research. We searched Scopus, PsycINFO, and ERIC for empirical papers measuring cognitive reappraisal in normative samples of children and youth between the ages of 3 and 18 years published in peer-reviewed journals through August 9th, 2018. (...) We identified 118 studies that met our inclusion criteria. We first present a quantitative review of the methodologies used to investigate cognitive reappraisal in children and adolescents, with attention to variations in methodologies by the sample age range. We then present a qualitative review of findings with attention to: the age at which children begin to effectively use cognitive reappraisal to regulate their emotions, and developmental changes in cognitive reappraisal from early childhood through adolescence. We consider how methodological differences may contribute to inconsistencies in findings, highlight gaps in the literature that remain to be addressed, and make recommendations for future directions. (shrink)

_ Source: _Volume 39, Issue 3, pp 312 - 343 The aim of this study was to explore which group-based emotion regulation goals and strategies are offered in the group culture of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Based on interviews with 29 group-active JW s in Norway, a thematic analysis was conducted in which an overall pattern of cognition taking precedence over emotions was found. Due to end-time expectations and a long-term goal of eternal life in Paradise, future emotions were prioritized. The emotion (...) regulation strategies identified among JW s were _social sharing_ and the interconnected _cognitive reappraisal_. A new concept, _emotional forecasting_, was introduced, describing a reappraisal tactic of regulation using prospects of future emotions to regulate the here and now. It was concluded that the prospection of the future is a strong regulator of emotions of the _here and now_ and should be included in psychological models of emotion regulation. (shrink)

Although a substantial literature is developing regarding the effects of stress on decision-making, the literature on stress and social decision-making is still in the beginning stage. The present research extends this new literature by examining the mediating and moderating factors of the effect of stress on social decision-making. Furthermore, a novel aspect of the research is its effort to connect the information-processing and functional perspectives, with regard to the acute stress response. Dual-mode theories state that emotional processing, relative to cognitive (...) processing, occurs early during information processing and is associated with stimulus-driven behaviors. Therefore, an intensification of emotional processing and inhibition of cognitive control processes may lead to an earlier and more stimulus-driven initiation of behavioral responses than under normal circumstances. Moreover, such quick, automatic behavioral responses to environmental stimuli may be particularly useful during an acute stress response in that such responses could help prevent disturbances to homeostasis. In order to facilitate such quick, automatic behavioral responses, emotional processing may be intensified and cognitive processing inhibited, during an acute stress response. In support of this notion, empirical findings show that acute stress increases emotion-related phenomena, such as reward salience and emotional learning. However, in a social decision-making context, such enhancement of emotional processing may negatively affect the social interactions, such that negative emotions from perceived unfairness may be amplified when people are undergoing an acute stress response. More specifically, in the context of an Ultimatum Game, people who are stressed may reject more unfair offers than people under normal conditions. This research tested this main hypothesis, and examined emotions and trait emotion regulation tendencies as mediating and moderating factors, respectively, of the relationship between acute stress and Ultimatum Game rejections. These arguments are elaborated in Chapters 1, 2, and 3 of this dissertation. In two experiments, participants played the Ultimatum Game as the Responder after completing a stress or control task. The Cold Pressor Test was used as the stress induction method. Before and after the Ultimatum Game, participants completed state emotion ratings as well as trait emotion regulation questionnaires. Results from Experiment 1 showed a successful stress induction, indicated by higher cortisol levels in the stress, relative to control, group. Moreover, Experiment 1 revealed a significant Stress x Amount interaction, with stress having an effect on rejections of unfair offers, in comparison to fair offers. However, the emotion and emotion regulation results did not indicate the expected pattern, with emotions being uncorrelated with fair, nor unfair offers, and emotion regulation being associated with reduced rejections of fair, but not unfair, offers. In Experiment 2, an experimental manipulation designed to influence negative emotions, namely partner type, was employed. Results did not replicate the results of the first experiment, but unexpected results were found involving partner type and negative emotions, namely that participants who played with human partners, relative to those who played with computer partners, rejected more unfair offers and that negative emotions were positively correlated with rejections of fair and unfair offers. The experiments and their results are described in Chapter 4. It is difficult to draw firm conclusions from these results, but they do offer a starting point for interesting future research questions. Chapter 5 discusses some implications as well as limitations of the present research. (shrink)