Department of Counseling and Clinical Psychology, Teachers College, Columbia University, USA.
Emotion. 2010 Feb;10(1):92-100. doi: 10.1037/a0018420.
Previous research has examined the consequences of either expressing or suppressing emotion using between-subjects designs. However, emotion theorists have argued that adaptation depends not so much on one regulatory process but rather on the ability to flexibly regulate emotion in accord with situational demands. To test this idea, Bonanno, Papa, Lalande, Westphal, and Coifman (2004) developed a within-subjects experimental paradigm to measure expressive flexibility (EF) and showed that EF predicted better self-reported adjustment over a 2-year period. The current investigation extends this research by (1) demonstrating the stability of EF across a 3-year period, (2) replicating the association between EF and positive adjustment using a more objective measure of adjustment (obtained from participants' close friends rather than based on self-report), and (3) by showing that the positive relation between EF and adjustment was particularly salient in the context of high levels of cumulative life stress when EF was measured under conditions of immediate threat (presence of a subliminal threat prime).
先前的研究采用被试间设计来检验表达或抑制情绪的后果。然而，情绪理论家认为，适应不仅仅取决于一种调节过程，而是取决于根据情境需求灵活调节情绪的能力。为了检验这一观点，Bonanno、Papa、Lalande、Westphal 和 Coifman（2004）开发了一种内隐实验范式来测量表达灵活性（EF），并表明 EF 在 2 年内更好地预测了自我报告的适应情况。本研究通过以下三个方面扩展了这一研究：（1）在 3 年内证明 EF 的稳定性；（2）使用更客观的适应衡量标准（从参与者的亲密朋友处获得，而不是基于自我报告）复制 EF 与积极适应之间的关联；（3）表明在存在即时威胁的情况下（当在潜意识威胁启动的条件下测量 EF 时），EF 与适应之间的积极关系在累积生活压力水平较高的情况下尤为明显。
