A response that is evoked automatically by the stimulus itself without insight or awareness

University of Vermont

The up- or down-regulation of either the magnitude or duration of an emotional response

Emotional Regulation 

Breedlove, S. & Watson, N. (2017). Behavioral neuroscience, eighth edition. Oxford University Press.

Behavioral Neuroscience 8th Edition

Implicit Emotional Regulation 

Emotional regulation that requires conscious effort for initiation and active monitoring of emotion during implementation


Explicit Emotional regulation 

An attempt by oneself to regulate their own emotions 

Intrinsic Emotional Regulation 

An attempt to change someone else's emotions

Explicit Emotional Regulation 

The emotional response can modulated at each of the different stages of emotion. Situation selection refers to taking steps to influence which situation one will be exposed to. Situation modification is changing one or more relevant aspects of the situation. Attentional deployments is the influencing which portions of the situation are perceived. Cognitive change consists of altering the way the situation is cognitively represented. The last step is response modulation, which is directly modifying emotion-related actions. (Gross, 1998.)

Process of Emotional Regulation


Infants majority use extrinsic regulation (via parents,) while maintaining little intrinsic regulation (such as gaze aversion.)
Children shift from extrinsic to intrinsic as development processes.
Adolescents rely on intrinsic regulation, majority refusing extrinsic emotional regulation.
Adults utilize both intrinsic and extrinsic regulation.

Development and Emotional Regulation


Emotional Regulation

Emotional regulation and emotional development

The Extended Process Model of Emotion Regulation: Elaborations, Applications, and Future Directions

ODD & Conduct Disorder

From anatomy to function: the role of the somatosensory cortex in emotional regulation

Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: Implications for affect, relationships, and well-being

Emotional Regulation Library 

Autism Spectrum Disorder 

Anxiety Disorders 

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorders

Oppositional defiant and conduct disorders

Depressive disorders

Emotional Regulation Disorders

Emotional Regulation Treatments 

Cognitive reappraisal is an emotional regulation strategy that encourages the reinterpretation of an emotional stimulus in order to change the meaning of the stimulus.

Cognitive Reappraisal

Research in the emerging field of cultural neuroscience suggests that culture influences one's sensitivity and reactivity to his or her emotions. A majority of such research has focused on comparisons between Europe and North America ("West") and China and Japan ("East"). Broadly speaking, European American cultures value emotional expression, whereas East Asian cultures value emotional control. EEG studies across the two cultures found that both Asians and European Americans showed a strong LPP amplitude after viewing unpleasant pictures. When tasked with suppressing negative emotions, however, Asians showed significant reduction in LPP amplitude, while the same effect was much less pronounced in European Americans. These studies highlight the role of culture in emotional processing. Future directions might look into cultures beyond the traditional binary of "Western" and "Eastern" cultures.

Cultural neuroscience and emotional regulation

The somatosensory cortex has been implicated in emotional regulation.

Anatomy of Emotional Regulation

Testing emotional regulation involves assessing an individual's tendency or capacity to modulate their emotional responses. This evaluation is typically conducted using standardized self-report measures and behavioral questionnaires.

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