Emotion Goals in Psychopathology: A New Perspective on Dysfunctional Emotion Regulation

Millgram, Yael; Huppert, Jonathan D.; Tamir, Maya

doi:10.1177/0963721420917713

Cited by 46 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…For those reporting relatively high trait anxiety, greater state preference for anxiety is associated with greater subsequent increases in anxiety. The relation between state anxiety preference and state anxiety among individuals with high trait anxiety is consistent with research on the relation between emotion preferences and emotion in depression (see Millgram et al, 2020, for a review).…”

Section: Relation To the Extant Literaturesupporting

confidence: 80%

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Emotion and Emotion Preferences in Daily Life: The Role of Anxiety

Vanderlind

Everaert

Caballero

et al. 2021

Clinical Psychological Science

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People vary in their emotion preferences (i.e., desired emotional states). No study, however, has examined the nature of emotion preferences in anxiety. In the current study, we used a 14-day ecological momentary assessment paradigm to investigate the daily dynamics of emotion preferences and state emotion as they relate to individual differences in trait anxiety and anxiety symptom severity. Individuals with higher levels of trait anxiety and with more severe anxiety symptoms reported greater preferences for state anxiety compared with their low-anxiety counterparts. Relations between anxiety preferences and subsequent anxiety vary as a function of trait anxiety and symptom severity, and different associations are observed between the two measures of anxiety. The current findings suggest that aberrant emotion preferences may contribute to emotion dysfunction in anxiety and highlight emotion preferences as a novel treatment target for interventions that aim to improve emotion functioning among people with elevated levels of anxiety.

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Section: Relation To the Extant Literaturesupporting

confidence: 80%

“…Illustrations of this process are seen in recent work on the nature of emotion preferences as they relate to clinical phenomena (Millgram et al, 2020).…”

Section: Emotion Preferencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emotion and Emotion Preferences in Daily Life: The Role of Anxiety

Vanderlind

Everaert

Caballero

et al. 2021

Clinical Psychological Science

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“…To the extent that people prefer authentic experiences (e.g., Lenton, Bruder, Slabu, & Sedikides, 2013), those who suffer from frequent unpleasant emotions might consider decreasing such emotions less desirable. Indeed, depressed individuals were less motivated than nondepressed individuals to decrease their sadness, as reflected in self-report and in emotion-regulatory behavior (see Millgram, Huppert, & Tamir, 2020). Depressed individuals were reluctant to change their sadness, in part, because it felt authentic to them (Arens & Stangier, 2020).…”

Section: Implications For Psychopathologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, we draw conclusions regarding the effects of trying to decrease negative affect using cognitive reappraisal without considering the possible effects of trying to decrease negative affect per se (Tamir, Halperin, Porat, Bigman, & Hasson, 2019). We test whether and when depressed participants use cognitive reappraisal or rumination but rarely ask whether they are motivated to change their feelings and to what end (see Millgram et al, 2020). We talk about people using "noninfluence strategies to regulate emotions" rather than consider the possibility that some people are not trying to influence their emotions at all (Wilken & Miyamoto, 2020).…”

Section: Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effortful Emotion Regulation as a Unique Form of Cybernetic Control

Tamir

2020

Perspect Psychol Sci

Self Cite

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Emotion regulation is important for psychological well-being, yet we know relatively little about why, when, and how hard people try to regulate emotions. This article seeks to address these motivational issues by considering effortful emotion regulation as a unique form of cybernetic control. In any domain of self-regulation, emotions serve as indices of progress in regulation and inform the expected value of regulation. In emotion regulation, however, emotions also serve as the very target of regulation. This interdependence gives rise to ironic processes that may render people less likely to exert effort in emotion regulation, precisely when they need it most. The proposed analysis complements and extends existing theories of emotion regulation, sheds new light on available findings, carries implications for psychopathology and well-being, and points to new hypotheses that could lead to theoretical and applied advances in the field.

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“…BIS sensitivity, on the other hand, predicts a prevention orientation, a preference for punishment avoidance (High & Solomon, 2014). These goal orientations may also be activated when choosing emotion regulation strategies (Millgram et al, 2020;Vanderlind et al, 2020). A promotion orientation may be more consonant with positive reappraisal, which aims to maximize a positive emotional outcome (McRae et al, 2012;Vishkin et al, 2020).…”

Section: Reinforcement Sensitivity Emotion Regulation and Affective Pmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reinforcement sensitivity predicts affective psychopathology via emotion regulation: Cross-sectional, longitudinal and quasi-experimental evidence

Ba¹,

CaPL-I²

2020

Preprint

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Temperamental reinforcement sensitivity predicts affective pathology, with BAS sensitivity negatively predicting depression and BIS sensitivity positively predicting both depression and anxiety. Most clinical research on reinforcement sensitivity, however, neglects the role of cognitive mechanisms in mediating these relationships. The current article presents a cognitive coping model of clinical reinforcement sensitivity wherein the relationship between reinforcement sensitivity and affective pathology is mediated by trait preferences for corollary emotion regulation strategies. In Study 1, participants (N = 593) completed measures of reinforcement sensitivity, positive reappraisal, rumination, depression, and anxiety. Exploratory structural equation modeling found that the only model with a good fit included BAS sensitivity predicting reappraisal and BIS sensitivity negatively predicting it. Reappraisal then negatively predicted depression. BIS sensitivity also predicted rumination, which predicted both depression and anxiety. Study 2a confirmed the model developed in Study 1 with an independent sample (N = 513). It then examined longitudinal relationships with a second assessment 6 months later. The relationship from BIS sensitivity to rumination to depression and anxiety remained significant, as did the relationship between reappraisal and depression. Reinforcement sensitivity, however, did not predict reappraisal. In Study 2b, participants (N = 219) were assessed a third time one year later, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. During this stressful time, BAS sensitivity did longitudinally predict reappraisal. These studies highlight the role of emotion regulation in mediating the relationship between reinforcement sensitivity and affective pathology, particularly during times of high stress.

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Emotion Goals in Psychopathology: A New Perspective on Dysfunctional Emotion Regulation

Cited by 46 publications

References 31 publications

Emotion and Emotion Preferences in Daily Life: The Role of Anxiety

Emotion and Emotion Preferences in Daily Life: The Role of Anxiety

Effortful Emotion Regulation as a Unique Form of Cybernetic Control

Reinforcement sensitivity predicts affective psychopathology via emotion regulation: Cross-sectional, longitudinal and quasi-experimental evidence

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