Reappraising reappraisal: The influence of emotion regulation on affective and physiological responses to racism
Open Access
- Author:
- Perez, Christopher R.
- Graduate Program:
- Psychology
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- May 28, 2013
- Committee Members:
- Jose Angel Soto, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Jose Angel Soto, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Michelle Gayle Newman, Committee Member
Pamela Marie Cole, Committee Member
Keith B Wilson, Committee Member - Keywords:
- Emotion regulation
Reappraisal
Rumination
Ethnic minority
Oppression
Physiology - Abstract:
- Cognitive reappraisal is a commonly used emotion regulation strategy generally linked to healthier psychological functioning in individuals utilizing it as a means to down-regulate negative affect. However, mixed results regarding the effective use of cognitive reappraisal within certain cultural contexts and in response to racial discrimination have begun to call into question the inherent utility of using this strategy. Specifically, several studies have now shown cognitive reappraisal to be ineffective at down-regulating negative affect in response to racial discrimination or to be associated with worse psychological functioning within contexts characterized by multiple levels of oppression. Studies have yet to determine if cognitive reappraisal is inherently maladaptive in the face of discrimination and what specific characteristics of cognitive reappraisal (e.g., perspective) or aspects of the stressor (e.g., level of personal salience) alter its effectiveness. Research has shown that successful self-reflection requires one take a self-distanced perspective in order to understand why an event occurred; yet it remains to be seen if such an approach retains the positive effects of reappraisal in the face of discrimination. Similarly, it stands to reason that certain individuals may find racial discrimination to be more or less personally salient and, therefore, more or less difficult to reappraise. The present study examined the effectiveness of positive reappraisal, self-distancing reappraisal, and rumination in down-regulating self-reported negative affect (anxiety and anger) and physiological arousal (using preejection period and respiratory sinus arrhythmia as indicators of sympathetic and parasympathetic activity, respectively) in response to racism. This study also looked at whether individual, trait-level characteristics predicted the relative effectiveness of each strategy. Results revealed no differences between the three strategies in down-regulating negative affect and physiological arousal in response to racism. However, this study found that certain aspects of one’s self-construal and ethnic identity significantly predicted the effectiveness of self-reflective strategies in a number of ways.