A comparison of emotion regulation strategies’ effectiveness under cognitive fatigue

Abstract

This research compared the effectiveness of three emotion regulation strategies including reappraisal, distraction, and affect labeling under cognitive fatigue. In the 2 (fatigue vs. non-fatigue) × 3 (emotion regulation strategies) within-subject design, 46 participants were randomly assigned into conditions using an incomplete block design method. Self-report negative emotions and skin conductance responses to emotion-eliciting pictures were measured to compare the effectiveness of the strategies. Results showed that reappraisal was more effective in regulating negative emotions than distraction and affect labeling in both fatigue and non-fatigue conditions. While reappraisal was a robust method of regulating emotion, the other two less-demanding strategies show some promising results. The present study provided a consistent conclusion with previous works which showed that reappraisal worked better than distraction and affect labeling. However, no difference in emotional responses was found when comparing the cognitive fatigue conditions.