The Emotional Stroop as an Emotion Regulation Task

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Gerontology

Background:

• The emotional Stroop task (EST) is used to study emotion regulation, but findings on age differences are inconsistent.
• Previous research often overlooks moderating factors like arousal and dispositional regulation strategies.
• The relationship between EST effects and emotional responses requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate age differences in the emotional Stroop task (EST) as a measure of emotion regulation.
• To examine the moderating roles of arousal and dispositional emotion regulation strategies (flexible goal adjustment - FGA) on age-related EST differences.
• To explore the relationship between EST performance and affective states.

Main Methods:

• Two studies utilized an emotional Stroop task with varying word valence and arousal.
• Participants completed measures of flexible goal adjustment (FGA), positive and negative affect, and momentary affect changes.
• Age groups (younger and older adults) were compared on EST performance and affective measures.

Main Results:

• Older adults exhibited larger emotional Stroop effects (ESE) for medium-arousing negative words.
• ESE in older adults correlated positively with FGA and negatively with negative affect.
• Study 2 confirmed larger ESEs for medium-arousing negative words in older adults, linked to positive changes in momentary affect.

Conclusions:

• Arousal levels and dispositional regulation measures (FGA) are crucial for understanding age differences in emotion regulation.
• The emotional Stroop task is a suitable tool for inducing emotions and assessing emotion regulation mechanisms.
• While no positivity effect was found, EST performance in older adults related to reduced negative affect and improved momentary affect.