Examining distinctions between polyregulation and single-strategy emotion regulation

Polyregulation refers to the simultaneous or sequential use of emotion regulation (ER) approaches. Although research has documented that polyregulation is common, more research is needed to clarify when it occurs and how it relates to ER processes. A total of 179 adults reported on a recent event 5×/day for 14 days between 2022 and 2023. For each event, participants reported on momentary contextual factors, including positive affect and negative affect, social context (presence of others), and event appraisals (pleasantness, importance), along with whether they engaged in ER. When ER was reported, participants indicated whether they used single-strategy ER or various types of polyregulation and their perceived ER effort, difficulty, and success. Polyregulation was common (53%) and endorsed more frequently than single-strategy ER (47%), though the magnitude of this effect was small (p = .046, Wilcoxon effect size r = .16). Single-strategy ER use was more frequent than any one type of polyregulation approach. The likelihood of polyregulation was higher when individuals felt more negative affect, perceived events as more important, and were with others (vs. alone). Positive affect and pleasantness were not robust predictors of polyregulation. Compared to single-strategy ER, polyregulation was associated with greater ER effort and difficulty, but not success. The polyregulation approach "redo" (i.e., switching strategies after the first way did not work) was, however, associated with less ER success compared to other forms of ER, including single-strategy ER. Altogether, polyregulation was frequent in daily life and varied based on contextual factors. Engaging in polyregulation may be more demanding than using a single strategy. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).