| What is defined by emotional self-regulation? | The concept of emotional self-regulation (sometimes called emotional regulation or simply emotion regulation) is the processes people use to INFLUENCE the emotions they have, when they have them, and how they express their emotions (Dan-Glauser & Gross, 2013). |
| What is the purpose of emotional self-regulation? | Emotion regulation helps us cope with our changing environments and accomplish goals. |
| Emotional self-regulation is an important component of emotional health and overall personality development (Davis, Levine, Lench, & Quas, 2010; Eisenberg, Spinrad, & Eggum, 2010; Thompson et al., 2011). Describe 3 factors why this is true. | 1. Emotion regulation allows us to control impulses that may urge us to behave in socially unacceptable ways, such as controlling the impulse to say a rude remark.
2. It helps us manage negative emotions, such as being able to forget about somebody's mistake after initially feeling angry about it.
3. It permits us to consider behaving in socially acceptable ways, such as deciding to talk calmly to the other person about an issue, or simply leaving the scene during a heated argument to calm down. |
| Describe the 2 components necessary to develop emotional control (Buckley & Saarni, 2009)? | 1. First, we must learn to control how, when, and where to express our feelings.
2. Second, we must learn to reinterpret potentially negative events in a POSITIVE light, such as concluding that we simply need to study more effectively instead of being devastated by a low score test.
Mastering these two components above marks a significant step in understanding and harnessing our emotions (Aikins & Litwack, 2011). With experience, and particularly through social interactions, both slowly develop over time. |
| Emotional self-regulation is closely related to emotional intelligence. What is emotional intelligence? | Emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive, understand, and MANAGE emotions in ourselves and others, and to use emotional knowledge to enhance cognition (thought) (Humphrey, 2013; Reissland, 2012). |
| In relation to human diversity, describe 4 differences in emotional self-regulation. | 1. A person's age. As we would expect, younger children differ considerably in their emotional self-regulation as compared to older children (Loman & Gunnar, 2010).
2. Gender differences also exists (Rothbart, 2011; Wentzel, Battle, Russel, & Looney, 2010). Boys and girls regulate their emotions differently due to a variety of factors.
3. Cultural differences also exists such as Western culture, which tend to emphasise individualism, are more likely to teach and reinforce individuals' expressions of emotions (Morelli & Rothbaum, 2007; Miller, 2013). Collectivist cultures, such as in Asian countries, are more likely to reward conformity, encourage individuals to think of the common good, and suppress individual emotions for the good of the group.
4. Poverty influences emotional self-regulation in several ways. For example, the physical and psychological challenges that children experience growing up in poverty can inhibit healthy brain development (Hackman & Farah, 2012). Also students, who are worried about their next meal will come from are more prone to depression, anxiety, and behavioural problems (Crossnoe & Cooper, 2010; Kagan, 2010). This is because the challenges that families in poverty face, such as paying bills and putting food on the table, can create home environments where the security needed for healthy emotional development is missing. |
| Describe, in more detail, the gender differences in emotional self-regulation. | In general, girls are better at both reading and controlling their emotions. Boys are more likely to display anger and aggression, whereas girls tend to report feeling sad, fearful, or guilty. In classrooms, girls are more compliant and less likely to act out (Emmer & Evertson, 2013; Evertson & Emmer, 2013).
Explanations for these gender differences include:
(a) maturational differences in the brain, that is, the part of the brain responsible for controlling emotions develops more quickly in girls (Rothbard, 2011),
(b) hormonal influences (Davila, 2008), and
(c) differences in the ways boys and girls are socialised (Kennedy Root & Denham, 2010; Weisgram Bigler, & Liben, 2010).
These differences are reflected in the fact that boys are diagnosed as having emotional or behavioural problems much more often than girls (Hallahan, Kauffman, & Pullen, 2012; Hardman, Drew, & Egen, 2014). |
| What can we conclude about the presence of emotional stress in developing children? | For all children, some emotional stress can be healthy because it provides experience that can contribute to healthy emotional development (Pulvermuller & Fadiga, 2010).
However, emotional challenges that are too great can have a negative impact on emotional self-regulation and overall personality development (Braaten, 2011; Sawyer et al., 2010). |
