Knowledge About the Source of Emotion Predicts Emotion-Regulation Attempts, Strategies, and Perceived Emotion-Regulation Success
通过396名成人7天的生态瞬时评估，发现人们越清楚负面情绪的来源，就越可能尝试调节情绪、使用针对来源的策略（如认知重评），并感到更成功和更幸福。
People’s ability to regulate emotions is crucial to healthy emotional functioning. One overlooked aspect in emotion-regulation research is that knowledge about the source of emotions can vary across situations and individuals, which could impact people’s ability to regulate emotion. Using ecological momentary assessments ( N = 396; 7 days; 5,466 observations), we measured adults’ degree of knowledge about the source of their negative emotions. We used language processing to show that higher reported knowledge led to more concrete written descriptions of the source. We found that higher knowledge of the source predicted more emotion-regulation attempts; increased the use of emotion-regulation strategies that target the source (cognitive reappraisal, situation modification) versus strategies that do not (distraction, emotional eating); predicted greater perceived success in regulating emotions; and greater well-being. These patterns were evident both within and between persons. Our findings suggest that pinpointing the source of emotions might play an important role in emotion regulation.