Glossary // Glossary term Theoretical

Interpersonal emotion regulation

Regulating emotion through social interaction, either one's own emotion with the help of others or another person's emotion. Zaki and Williams distinguish intrinsic regulation, in which a person uses others to change their own feelings, from extrinsic regulation, in which a person tries to change someone else's, and response-dependent processes, which rely on the other's actual reaction, from response-independent ones, such as the effect of putting feelings into words for someone. The framework organises findings on sharing, support and empathy but is still being tested.

Where the site uses it

Crying, talking and sharing: when emotional expression helps
Evidence on crying, social sharing of emotion, talking about distressing experiences and affect labelling shows that expression helps through social support, meaning and regulation rather than through discharge itself.
Stress physiology, social buffering and the body in the crowd
Allostasis and allostatic load, the cognitive control of emotion, the stress-buffering effects of social support and the use of music for mood regulation explain what a night of collective movement does for the body, and what it cannot change.

Studies behind it

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

Zaki, J., & Williams, W. C. (2013). Interpersonal emotion regulation. doi:10.1037/a0033839

Level D Theory

Supports the distinctions between intrinsic and extrinsic, and response-dependent and response-independent, interpersonal regulation. An organising framework; it does not test which processes are effective.