Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 2, 2026

Psychophysiological Assessment of the Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Childhood
Published on: February 11, 2017
Individual differences in negative affect repair
Scott H Hemenover1, Adam A Augustine, Tirza Shulman
1Western Illinois University, Department of Psychology, Macomb, IL 61455-1390, USA. SH-Hemenover@wiu.edu
Abstract:
The extant literature implicates affect repair ability as one source of individual differences in negative affect. Emerging from this literature are three regulatory traits that should predict repair ability (negative mood regulation expectancies, monitoring, labeling), yet no experimental examination of this possibility exists. Two studies explored this issue. Participants (Ns=305, 146) watched negative affect-inducing videos and completed a repair or control writing task, before and after which they reported their affect. Results revealed wide individual differences in repair ability. Specifically, participants with high expectancies of repair success and those who attend to and understand their affect experienced the largest decreases in negative affect and largest increases in positive affect following the repair tasks. These findings advance understanding of individual differences in affect regulation and have implications for future research.
Related Concept Videos
Self-Discrepancy and Its Effects
Coping Strategies: Emotion Focused
Self-Evaluation: Self-Enhancement and Self-Verification
Socioemotional Development during Infancy
Primary Temperament Types
Stella Chess...
Fundamental Attribution Error
Self-Presentation: Self-Monitoring and Self-Handicapping
