Mechanisms underlying the alleviation of negative emotions from social exclusion by interpersonal emotion regulation

Negative emotions induced by social exclusion can exert a significant detrimental effect on an individual's physical and mental health. To explore the effects and neural mechanisms of interpersonal emotion regulation on the negative emotions caused by social exclusion, this study conducted two experiments. Experiment 1compared the effects of interpersonal versus intrapersonal emotion regulation on the negative emotions induced by social exclusion through behavioral indicators. The results showed that interpersonal emotion regulation produced a superior reduction in negative emotions. Then, Experiment 2, utilizing the fNIRS hyper-scanning technology, explored the mechanisms underlying this effect. The results revealed reduced functional brain connectivity in the left medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of the emotion experiencer. Furthermore, during the regulation process, there was enhanced inter-brain synchronization between the left mPFC of the emotion regulator and the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) of the emotion experiencer. These findings, from the perspective of social interaction, validate the critical role of interpersonal emotion regulation in mitigating the negative emotions caused by social exclusion and elucidate the underlying mechanisms of this effect. This provides empirical support for the application of interpersonal emotion regulation techniques in psychological counseling and interventions.