TY - JOUR
T1 - Motivational Intensity in Emotion Regulation
AU - Gutentag, Tony
AU - Kalokerinos, Elise K.
AU - Millgram, Yael
AU - Garrett, Paul M.
AU - Sobel, Rachel
AU - Tamir, Maya
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.
PY - 2026/1
Y1 - 2026/1
N2 - Changing how we feel can be adaptive, but it is also difficult and may require effort. There is research on what people want to achieve in emotion regulation (motivational content), but there is little research on how intensely people pursue what they want to achieve (motivational intensity). We tested the role of motivational intensity in emotion regulation, by assessing (Studies 1–2, Ns = 160 and 157) and manipulating (Study 3, N = 250) it in daily life. As predicted, when people were more motivated to make themselves feel better, they engaged more intensely in emotion-regulatory behaviors, experienced more desirable emotional experiences, and reported better psychological health. Furthermore, motivating people to make themselves feel better, increased their emotion-regulatory behaviors and led to better psychological health during COVID-19. Motivational intensity, therefore, may be an understudied factor facilitating emotional well-being.
AB - Changing how we feel can be adaptive, but it is also difficult and may require effort. There is research on what people want to achieve in emotion regulation (motivational content), but there is little research on how intensely people pursue what they want to achieve (motivational intensity). We tested the role of motivational intensity in emotion regulation, by assessing (Studies 1–2, Ns = 160 and 157) and manipulating (Study 3, N = 250) it in daily life. As predicted, when people were more motivated to make themselves feel better, they engaged more intensely in emotion-regulatory behaviors, experienced more desirable emotional experiences, and reported better psychological health. Furthermore, motivating people to make themselves feel better, increased their emotion-regulatory behaviors and led to better psychological health during COVID-19. Motivational intensity, therefore, may be an understudied factor facilitating emotional well-being.
KW - COVID-19
KW - emotion regulation
KW - motivation
KW - psychological health
KW - well-being
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85203497445
U2 - 10.1177/01461672241273273
DO - 10.1177/01461672241273273
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C2 - 39257336
AN - SCOPUS:85203497445
SN - 0146-1672
VL - 52
SP - 212
EP - 226
JO - Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
JF - Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
IS - 1
ER -