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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 2, 2026

Psychophysiological Assessment of the Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Childhood

Psychophysiological Assessment of the Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Childhood

Published on: February 11, 2017

Discrepancy-based and anticipated emotions in behavioral self-regulation.

Christina M Brown¹, Allen R McConnell

¹Department of Psychology, Saint Louis University, 221 North Grand Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63109, USA. cbrown81@slu.edu

Emotion (Washington, D.C.)

|April 27, 2011

Summary

Negative emotions from self-discrepancies don't directly drive self-regulation. Instead, anticipating future emotions, shaped by past experiences, guides goal-directed behavior and self-regulation.

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Published on: August 26, 2011

Area of Science:

Psychology
Cognitive Science
Behavioral Science

Background:

Self-discrepancies between current and desired states often trigger negative emotions.
These emotions are traditionally thought to directly guide self-regulation.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the role of discrepancy-based emotions in behavioral self-regulation.
To examine whether immediate emotional experiences or anticipated emotions predict self-regulatory behavior.

Main Methods:

The study evaluated the predictive power of discrepancy-based emotions and anticipated emotions on self-regulation.
It explored the influence of past emotional experiences on future emotional expectations.

Main Results:

Contrary to existing theories, current emotions stemming from self-discrepancies did not predict self-regulatory behavior.
Anticipated emotions regarding future self-discrepancies were significant predictors of self-regulation.
Past emotional experiences influenced these anticipated emotions, suggesting an indirect motivational pathway.

Conclusions:

Emotions may not directly motivate immediate self-regulatory actions.
Emotions indirectly influence self-regulation by shaping future emotional expectations.
This provides a nuanced understanding of the emotion-regulation-behavior link.