Religion, emotion regulation, and well-being.

Religion can influence multiple points in the process of emotion regulation, including setting emotional goals and influencing intrinsic and extrinsic emotion regulation. First, religion shapes desired emotional states by setting emotional goals which are instrumental to religious values. These include awe, gratitude, joy, guilt, and hatred. Second, religion influences intrinsic processes in emotion regulation, including self-regulation skills, beliefs about the malleability of emotions, and the use of specific emotion regulation strategies. Finally, religion influences extrinsic processes in emotion regulation, including the creation of communities which provide social support in emotion regulation and religious rituals. The role of religion at each point of emotion regulation, as enumerated above, is discussed with regards to implications for well-being.