A round peg in a square hole: strategy-situation fit of intra- and interpersonal emotion regulation strategies and controllability

ABSTRACT

Although the importance of contextual factors is often recognised, research on emotion regulation strategies (ERS) has mainly focused so far on the effectiveness of ERS across situations. In the present research, we tested the strategy-situation fit hypothesis, which does not assume general effectiveness of ERS but instead stresses the importance of the congruency between ERS and the contexts in which they are used. Using a longitudinal Ambulatory Assessment dataset (N = 138), we found that controllability of a situation positively moderated the effectiveness of interpersonal ERS, such that, e.g. providing feedback to others was significantly associated with less positive feelings but only in less controllable situations. Intrapersonal ERS were negatively moderated by controllability, such that downplaying a negative situation was associated with less negative feelings in less controllable situations. Finally, favouring interpersonal over intrapersonal ERS was also positively moderated by controllability, demonstrating the situational fit of ERS in daily life.

KEYWORDS:

• Emotion regulation
• flexibility
• variability
• strategy-situation fit
• Ambulatory Assessment

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 In short, 90 participants were randomly assigned to the experimental group, whereas 48 were in the control group. In addition to the measures outlined in the method section, participants in the experimental group received additional hourly signals if they indicated to ruminate. These signals were terminated when the participants stopped ruminating. Given that none of the focal measures of our study were presented in these additional signals, we think that the possible impact of the experimental manipulation on the relationships of interest in the present study should have been limited.

Additional information

Funding

The research presented in this article was supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG; grant no: KU 2465/1-1).