Emotion Regulation Task
The Emotion Regulation Task, based on Gross's Process Model of Emotion Regulation, asks you to view negative emotion words while applying two strategies - distraction and reappraisal - and to rate how strongly you feel negative emotion after each regulation.
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About the Emotion Regulation Task
Based on James Gross's Process Model of Emotion Regulation, this task assesses preferences for different emotion regulation strategies. The model identifies when and how people influence their emotional experiences, with different strategies having different consequences for well-being.
Emotion Regulation Strategies
Different strategies have different effects on emotional experience and well-being. Reappraisal and acceptance are generally associated with better outcomes than suppression.
References
- Gross, J. J. (1998). The emerging field of emotion regulation: An integrative review. Review of General Psychology, 2(3), 271-299. 10.1037/1089-2680.2.3.271
- Sochat, V. V., Eisenberg, I. W., Enkavi, A. Z., Li, J., Bissett, P. G., & Poldrack, R. A. (2016). The Experiment Factory: Standardizing behavioral experiments. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 610. 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00610
- Ochsner, K. N., Bunge, S. A., Gross, J. J., & Gabrieli, J. D. E. (2002). Rethinking feelings: An fMRI study of the cognitive regulation of emotion. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 14(8), 1215-1229. 10.1162/089892902760807212
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Frequently Asked Questions
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What does this task involve?
You view a series of negative emotional words. In the test phase, you choose for each word which strategy to apply — distract (shift your attention away) or reappraise (reinterpret its meaning) — and then rate how you feel.
What is the difference between distraction and reappraisal?
Distraction shifts your attention away from the negative content; reappraisal changes how you interpret it. In Gross's process model, reappraisal acts earlier — on the interpretation itself — and is generally the less costly strategy.
What do results show?
Your results compare your self-rated feelings after using each strategy — the mean rating following distraction versus the mean following reappraisal — plus how often you chose each strategy. This adaptation has no passive-viewing baseline and records no physiological responses.
Does lab regulation skill predict real-life coping?
Only weakly on its own. Real regulation depends on context, habits, and support; the task isolates one mechanism under controlled conditions.
About This Experiment
This experiment is an educational adaptation for demonstration purposes. It is not a clinical diagnostic tool. Results reflect your performance in this specific session and should not be interpreted as an assessment of your cognitive abilities.
Data Privacy
Your experiment data is processed and stored locally in your browser. No data is uploaded to any server unless you explicitly export it.
