The Emotion Regulation Mechanism in Neurotic Individuals: The Potential Role of Mindfulness and Cognitive Bias

Neuroticism is a personality trait that impacts daily life and raises the risk of mental problems and physical illnesses. To understand the emotion regulation mechanism of neurotic individuals, we developed two complementary studies to examine the effects of mindfulness and negative cognitive bias. In Study 1, four scales (EPQ-RSC, FFMQ, CERQ, NCPBQ) were used for assessment. Correlation analysis and structural comparison showed that: (1) the level of neuroticism was positively correlated with negative emotion regulation; (2) negative cognitive bias mediated the relationship between neuroticism and emotion regulation; (3) mindfulness and negative cognitive bias mediated the relationship in a chain. Study 1 showed that cognitive bias may play a key role in the emotion regulation mechanism. Study 2 further explored the cognitive bias of neurotic individuals using three behavioral experiments. A mixed-design ANOVA indicated that individuals with high neuroticism levels exhibited negative attention, memory, and interpretation biases. Our findings extend previous research on emotion regulation problems of neurotic individuals and broaden the field to personality-based emotion disorders. In particular, a theoretical rationale is provided for the application of cognitive behavioral therapy, such as mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), to the emotion regulation of neurotic individuals.