Glossary // Glossary term Empirical

Expressive suppression

A response-focused regulation strategy that inhibits the outward expression of an emotion that is already under way, for example keeping a neutral face. In Gross's work suppression reduced visible expression but not the reported experience, and it was associated with increased physiological activation. People who habitually suppress reported less positive and more negative emotion and poorer social functioning than people who habitually reappraise, although these data are correlational.

Where the site uses it

Change the interpretation before trying to release the emotion
Cognitive reappraisal, reconsidering what a situation means, changes emotional experience more reliably than suppressing it or dwelling on it. How to practise it and when it is not the right tool.
The venting hypothesis: what experiments show about letting anger out
Controlled experiments on venting anger found that it keeps anger active and increases aggression. This note reviews the evidence, its limits, and the regulation strategies that reduce anger instead.

Studies behind it

The works the definition rests on, with the level of evidence each was appraised at.

Gross, J. J. (1998). The emerging field of emotion regulation: An integrative review. doi:10.1037/1089-2680.2.3.271

Level D Review

Supports definitions and the five-point process model used across the library. A conceptual framework, not a test of which strategies work.
Gross, J. J., & John, O. P. (2003). Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: Implications for affect, relationships, and well-being. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.85.2.348

Level D Cross-sectional study

Supports the claim that habitual reappraisal is associated with more positive and less negative emotion and better well-being than habitual suppression. Correlational data cannot show that the strategy causes these outcomes.