Metacognitive Monitoring Predicts and Enhances Emotion Management Knowledge

Although metacognitive monitoring is widely studied in cognitive domains, its role in emotional functioning remains underexplored. The present research investigates whether traditional measures of metacognitive monitoring, assessed through confidence ratings in cognitive tasks, are associated with and can influence emotional intelligence. In Study 1 (N = 226), participants completed a perceptual discrimination task with confidence ratings and a knowledge-based emotion management measure (the STEM-B). Results showed that metacognitive sensitivity (the correspondence between confidence and accuracy) was positively related to emotion management performance, while metacognitive bias (overall confidence) was negatively related. In Study 2 (N = 200), participants were randomly assigned to complete the emotion management task either with or without confidence ratings. Participants prompted to make metacognitive judgments performed significantly better, providing causal evidence that metacognitive engagement can enhance emotion management knowledge. These findings suggest that metacognitive monitoring, typically studied in 'cold' cognitive contexts, may play a functional role in the regulation of emotion. They also point to new opportunities for improving emotional intelligence through scalable, cognitively grounded interventions.