Studies // Cited work
Subjective responses to emotional stimuli during labeling, reappraisal, and distraction
Lieberman, M. D., Inagaki, T. K., Tabibnia, G., & Crockett, M. J. (2011). Subjective responses to emotional stimuli during labeling, reappraisal, and distraction.
Level B Experiment doi:10.1037/a0023503
What this study supports
Supports the claims that affect labelling lowered self-reported distress about as much as reappraisal and distraction, that participants nonetheless predicted it would increase distress, and that it diminished self-reported pleasure for positive pictures. Laboratory tasks with standardised pictures.
- Who was studied
- Four studies with negative and positive emotional pictures; the abstract does not state the sample sizes.
- Design
- Experiment
- Level of evidence
- Controlled studies: randomised or experimental designs, and syntheses of correlational work.
Claims that rest on it
Each claim states what the site asserts, at what strength, and with what caveat.
EmpiricalLevel BConfidence MODERATE
Labelling emotions lowered self-reported distress about as much as reappraisal and distraction, although participants expected it to increase distress, and it also dampened pleasure; after exposure therapy with labelling, skin conductance responses were lower but self-reported fear was not.
- Scope
- Laboratory picture tasks and a brief exposure course for spider fear.
- Caveat
- Effects differ between self-report and physiology, and most evidence comes from one research group.
Last reviewed · Review due · advice-affect-labeling-beyond-imaging