Emotion in sport: considering interpersonal regulation strategies

Abstract

Research into emotion regulation in sport has predominantly focused on intrapersonal regulation of emotion response systems (i.e. subjective experience, cognitions, behaviours or physiological responses). However, researchers in social psychology have suggested that the emotion regulation process is inherently social and interpersonal. This shift represents a significant change in how emotion regulation is conceptualized and, given the intensity of emotions experienced in sport, represents a potentially productive line of enquiry. This review addresses interpersonal emotion regulation in sport, and draws attention to work in social psychology that might inform future sports research. Specifically, the utility of social-functional approaches will be considered.

Keywords:

• mood
• affect
• cohesion
• intervention
• group dynamics

Acknowledgements

The support of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) UK is gratefully acknowledged (RES-060-25-0044: ‘Emotion regulation of others and self [EROS]’).

Notes

1. We use the term psychology to cover all of the core areas of psychology (i.e. biological, social, clinical, cognitive, personality, developmental) as well as areas of application such as sport, occupational, education, etc. We use the term psychology to refer to the study of psychology as an academic subject. This is often referred to as ‘mainstream psychology’ although we choose not to use this term as it implies that sport and other areas of application are on the periphery.