Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T20:15:47.776Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Does a positive appraisal style work in all stressful situations and for all individuals?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2015

Boris Egloff*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, D-55099 Mainz, Germany. egloff@uni-mainz.dehttp://www.ppd.psychologie.uni-mainz.de/62.php

Abstract

Kalisch et al. posit that a positive appraisal style is the key to resilience. I will argue instead that the adaptiveness of a particular emotion-regulation strategy is determined by contextual factors. Hence, a positive appraisal style might not always result in positive consequences and is most likely not the only mediator of resilience.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bonanno, G. A. & Burton, C. L. (2013) Regulatory flexibility: An individual differences perspective on coping and emotion regulation. Perspectives on Psychological Science 8:591612. doi: 10.1177/1745691613504116.Google Scholar
Butler, E. A., Egloff, B., Wilhelm, F. H., Smith, N. C., Erickson, E. A. & Gross, J. J. (2003) The social consequences of expressive suppression. Emotion 3:4867. doi: 10.1037/1528-3542.3.1.48.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Butler, E. A., Lee, T. L. & Gross, J. J. (2007) Emotion regulation and culture: Are the social consequences of emotion suppression culture-specific? Emotion 7:3048. doi: 10.1037/1528-3542.7.1.30.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Butler, E. A., Lee, T. L. & Gross, J. J. (2009) Does expressing your emotions raise or lower your blood pressure? The answer depends on cultural context. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 40:510–17. doi: 10.1177/0022022109332845.Google Scholar
Cheng, C. (2001) Assessing coping flexibility in real-life and laboratory settings: A multimethod approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 80:814–33. doi: 10.1037//0022-3514.80.5.814.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cheng, C., Lau, H. P. B. & Chan, M. P. S. (2014) Coping flexibility and psychological adjustment to stressful life changes: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin 140:1582–607. doi: 10.1037/a0037913.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Egloff, B., Schmukle, S. C., Burns, L. R. & Schwerdtfeger, A. (2006) Spontaneous emotion regulation during evaluated speaking tasks: Associations with negative affect, anxiety expression, memory, and physiological responding. Emotion 6:356–66. doi: 10.1037/1528-3542.6.3.356.Google Scholar
Gross, J. J. (1998) Antecedent- and response-focused emotion regulation: Divergent consequences for experience, expression, and physiology. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 74:224–37. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.74.1.224.Google Scholar
Gross, J. J. & John, O. P. (2003) Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: Implications for affect, relationships, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 85:348–62. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.85.2.348.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kashdan, T. B. & Rottenberg, J. (2010) Psychological flexibility as a fundamental aspect of health. Clinical Psychology Review 30:865–78. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2010.03.001.Google Scholar
Kearns, M. C., Ressler, K. J., Zatzick, D. & Rothbaum, B. O. (2012) Early interventions for PTSD: A review. Depression and Anxiety 29:833–42. doi: 10.1002/da.21997.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Matsumoto, D., Yoo, S. H. & Nakagawa, S. (2008) Culture, emotion regulation, and adjustment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 94:925–37. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.94.6.925.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Richards, J. M. & Gross, J. J. (2000) Emotion regulation and memory: The cognitive costs of keeping one's cool. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 79:410–24. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.79.3.410.Google Scholar
Sheppes, G., Catran, E. & Meiran, N. (2009) Reappraisal (but not distraction) is going to make you sweat: Physiological evidence for self-control effort. International Journal of Psychophysiology 71:9196. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2008.06.006.Google Scholar
Sheppes, G. & Meiran, N. (2008) Divergent cognitive costs for online forms of reappraisal and distraction. Emotion 8:870–74. doi: 10.1037/1528-3542.8.3.386.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sheppes, G., Scheibe, S., Suri, G. & Gross, J .J. (2011) Emotion-regulation choice. Psychological Science 22:1391–96. doi: 10.1177/0956797611418350.Google Scholar
Suri, G., Whittaker, K. & Gross, J. J. (2014) Launching reappraisal: It's less common than you might think. Emotion 15(1):7377.Google Scholar
Troy, A. S., Shallcross, A. J. & Mauss, I. B. (2013) A person-by-situation approach to emotion regulation: Cognitive reappraisal can either help or hurt, depending on the context. Psychological Science 24:2505–14. doi: 10.1177/0956797613496434.Google Scholar
Webb, T. L., Miles, E. & Sheeran, P. (2012) Dealing with feeling: A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of strategies derived from the process model of emotion regulation. Psychological Bulletin 138:775808. doi: 10.1037/a0027600.Google Scholar