Emotion regulation
We invite submissions for a special issue that explores the multi-layered dynamics of emotion regulation, integrating both intrapersonal strategies and interpersonal contexts in which regulation occurs. Emotion regulation, the process by which individuals influence the emotions they have, when they have them, and how they experience and express them, has traditionally been conceptualised as a primarily internal and individual phenomenon. However, perspectives from across psychological science, sociology, contemplative studies, and communication research reveals that regulation is frequently socially scaffolded, relationally enacted, and culturally shaped.
Classic models of regulation emphasise strategies like cognitive reappraisal, suppression, or mindfulness. However, regulation often unfolds in interaction: through empathy, support, perspective-sharing, and narrative construction with others. These forms of interpersonal emotion regulation include interpersonal reappraisal, where individuals seek or receive help to reinterpret emotionally significant events.
We welcome submissions that explore the mechanisms, contexts, functions, and consequences of emotion regulation across a wide spectrum, including both individual and social processes.
Research is invited on a range of themes, including but not limited, to:
- Mechanisms of intrapersonal and interpersonal regulation, including reappraisal, expressive suppression, attentional deployment, mindfulness, co-regulation, and emotional sharing
- Empathy, prosociality, and compassionate listening as regulatory processes
- Social support, attachment theory, and group dynamics in emotional management
- The emotional and social rewards of helping others regulate their emotions
- Cultural norms, relational expectations, and moral emotions in shaping regulation strategies
- Emotion regulation in different relational contexts: romantic, familial, caregiving, peer, workplace, and online
- Developmental and lifespan perspectives on how emotion regulation strategies evolve, including parent-child co-regulation and aging-related changes
- Cognitive, behavioral, and affective outcomes of various regulatory strategies
- Collective and collaborative regulation in group, organizational, or communal settings
- The role of language, narrative, and storytelling in emotion regulation
- Emotion regulation through contemplative, spiritual, or ritual practices
- Cultural variations in the value, expression, and function of regulation strategies
- Emotion regulation in marginalised or stigmatized communities
- Measurement approaches to studying interpersonal and social forms of regulation, including observational, self-report, and naturalistic methods
- Boundary conditions and potential costs of different regulation strategies, including emotional labour and empathy fatigue
We welcome empirical studies, theoretical papers, systematic reviews, and interdisciplinary or mixed-methods research. Submissions from psychology, sociology, education, communication, anthropology, and other related fields are particularly encouraged.
