Reappraisal affordances: a replication of Suri et al. (2018) and investigation of alternate predictors of reappraisal choice

ABSTRACT

Reappraisal affordances have recently emerged as an important predictor of emotion regulation choice . In a pre-registered replication of study 4 of Suri et al., 2018, we assessed the role of affordances and several other predictors of regulation choice. Participants (N = 315) read one of eight vignettes that varied in reappraisal affordance (high or low) and intensity (high or low). For each vignette, they rated hedonic and instrumental motives, affordances, intensity, importance, and long-term implications. One week later, participants re-read the vignette, chose between reappraisal and distraction, and rated their likelihood of using each strategy. Unexpectedly, participants rated predicted high affordance vignettes as lower in affordance than predicted low affordance vignettes. This difference from the original study may be due to sample differences: in the original study, participants were employees in a specific workplace and several vignettes targeted workplace activities. Nonetheless, we replicated the original finding that reappraisal affordances predicted reappraisal choice. The result held even when controlling for other contextual variables, which played a limited role in predicting emotion regulation. The results highlight the need to consider multiple aspects of context, including the research setting, when examining predictors of emotion regulation choice.

KEYWORDS:

• Emotion regulation
• choice
• affordances
• intensity
• motives

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Kate Bibeau and Ezra Persad for assisting with data collection and coding.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The research was supported in part by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada [grant RGPIN-2019-06425].