Moral emotions in mental health: regulation and mediation

Moral emotions-such as guilt, shame, compassion, and gratitude-play a central role in shaping psychological functioning and mental health. This mini review synthesizes recent empirical and theoretical research on the regulatory roles and mediating mechanisms of moral emotions in mental health outcomes. It is demonstrated that moral emotions activate both adaptive (e.g., cognitive reappraisal, self-compassion) and maladaptive (e.g., rumination, suppression) regulatory processes that significantly influence emotional resilience or vulnerability. Additionally, psychological flexibility, emotion regulation capacity, and cognitive mechanisms such as automatic negative thoughts are identified as key mediators linking moral emotions to conditions including anxiety, depression, and subjective wellbeing. Recent findings from cognitive neuroscience are also integrated, highlighting the ventromedial and dorsomedial prefrontal cortices, as well as other structures, as neural correlates involved in the regulation of moral emotions. This review advances understanding of how moral emotions modulate mental health and to inform emotion-focused interventions.