Extrinsic emotion regulation

What is it about?

This article selectively reviews current findings in order to answer the following questions: (a) What is extrinsic emotion regulation, and how can it be distinguished from related constructs such as emotion contagion, empathy, prosocial behavior, and social support? (b) How can we best model the processes through which extrinsic ER occurs as well as individual differences in extrinsic emotion regulation ability? The answers show that although extrinsic emotion regulation has much in common with intrinsic emotion regulation, the 2 cannot be equated. Research is therefore needed on the extrinsic side of emotion regulation.

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Why is it important?

To date, the field of emotion regulation has largely focused on intrinsic emotion regulation (i.e., regulation of one’s own emotions) and has only recently started to investigate extrinsic emotion regulation (i.e., regulation of another person’s emotions). This research clarifies definition and psychological mechanism of extrinsic emotion regulation.