Helping you helps me: Beneficial effects of regulating others’ emotions on well-being and physiological stress

Abstract

Improving others’ emotions is cognitively and emotionally demanding, potentially increasing regulators’ stress levels and decreasing regulators’ wellbeing. However, it is also reasonable to expect that the opposite could occur: Engaging in affect-improving extrinsic interpersonal emotion regulation (EIER) may enhance regulators’ affective wellbeing and shield against stress because affect-improving EIER can also activate regulators’ emotion regulation and foster better social interactions. In two studies, we test the intrapersonal consequences of engaging in affect-improving EIER. In Study 1, a 7-day diary study (N = 205; 1434 observations) of most significant social interactions, regulators who improved the emotions of others experienced an increase in positive affect from day 1 to day 7 and better wellbeing at the end of the study. In Study 2, a laboratory study (N = 102, 51 dyads), attempts to improve an interaction partner’s emotions were associated with the alleviation of physiological stress measured by pre-ejection period (PEP) reactivity. These findings empirically support the role of affect-improving extrinsic interpersonal emotion regulation in the self-regulation of emotions and contribute to the theoretical understanding of why social relationships are important for overall health and wellness.

Extrinsic Emotion Regulation: Exploring Strategies Used by Individuals With High and low Depression Symptoms

“…A notable reduction in physiological stress markers, such as systolic blood pressure and alpha-amylase, was found after providing EER by writing a supportive letter to a friend (Inagaki & Eisenberger, 2016). Jurkiewicz & Oveis (2023) observed an increase in positive affect and overall well-being among support providers who provided emotional support to others during one week of a daily diary study. The attempt to improve the recipient's emotional state in the second study resulted in a significant reduction in the pre-ejection period (PEP); i.e., the interval prior to the onset of the heart's electrical stimulation, as detected by electrocardiogram.…”

“…The attempt to improve the recipient's emotional state in the second study resulted in a significant reduction in the pre-ejection period (PEP); i.e., the interval prior to the onset of the heart's electrical stimulation, as detected by electrocardiogram. This decrease in PEP values coincided with improved mood during the conversations (Jurkiewicz & Oveis, 2023). Neuroimaging data further suggest that the efficacy of EER in mitigating depression is associated with activity in areas involved in empathy (Hallam et al, 2014), reward (Hallam et al, 2014Inagaki & Eisenberger, 2012), and intrinsic emotion regulation (Hallam et al, 2014;Inagaki, 2018), all of which are impaired in depression (Massarwe & Cohen, 2023).…”