“I feel better but I don't know why”: The psychology of implicit emotion regulation

Abstract

Although emotion regulation has traditionally been conceived as a deliberative process, there is growing evidence that many emotion-regulation processes operate at implicit levels. This special issue of Cognition and Emotion showcases recent advances in theorising and empirical research on implicit emotion regulation. Implicit emotion regulation can be broadly defined as any process that operates without the need for conscious supervision or explicit intentions, and aims at modifying the quality, intensity, or duration of an emotional response. Implicit emotion regulation is likely to be pervasive in everyday life and may contribute considerably to the effectiveness of emotion regulation. Research in this area has developed several valid methods for measuring and manipulating implicit emotion. The contributions to this special issue highlight the significance of implicit emotion regulation in psychological adaptation, goal-directed behaviour, interpersonal behaviour, personality functioning, and mental health.

Keywords:

• Emotion regulation
• Affect regulation
• Implicit social cognition

Acknowledgements

Preparation of this article was facilitated by a fellowship of SK at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences of Stanford University, and by a research grant of the German Research Foundation (DFG) to KR (RO 1272/2-3).