Emotion regulation and self-control: Same same but different… and even incompatible?

We explore the idea that inhibitory self-control and prohedonic emotion regulation may be incompatible concerns.

Specifically, we propose that because some forms of self-control involve denying oneself hedonic pleasures, it may lead to negative affect. Because people may then prioritize emotion regulation over self-control, negative affect may in turn lead to emotion regulation efforts, specifically the use of emotion regulation strategies, and an increased likelihood of self-control failure.

To explore the relationship between emotion regulation and self-control in daily life, we conducted a secondary analysis of a 6-week, 6-signal-per-day ambulatory assessment data set (N = 125 participants with a total of 22,845 completed measurement occasions).

Consistent with our predictions, we found that self-control efforts of resisting a pleasurable desire led to significantly increased subsequent negative affect, which, in turn, led to significantly increased emotion regulation efforts and to significantly more likely self-control failures.

We found evidence for the notion that inhibitory self-control and prohedonic emotion regulation are, on average, somewhat incompatible concerns. We discuss our findings in the context of other phenomena in which emotion regulation concerns may conflict with the pursuit of other goals.