Extrinsic emotion regulation

To date, the field of emotion regulation (ER) has largely focused on intrinsic ER (i.e., regulation of one's own emotions) and has only recently started to investigate extrinsic ER (i.e., regulation of another person's emotions). This article selectively reviews current findings in order to answer the following questions: (a) What is extrinsic ER, and how can it be distinguished from related constructs such as emotion contagion, empathy, prosocial behavior, and social support? (b) How can we best model the processes through which extrinsic ER occurs as well as individual differences in extrinsic ER ability? The answers show that although extrinsic ER has much in common with intrinsic ER, the 2 cannot be equated. Research is therefore needed on the extrinsic side of ER. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).