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Regulating emotion through distancing: A taxonomy, neurocognitive model, and supporting meta-analysis
Open accessAbstract
Distancing is a type of emotion regulation that involves simulating a new perspective to alter the psychological distance and emotional impact of a stimulus. The effectiveness and versatility of distancing relative to other types of emotion regulation make it a promising tool for clinical applications. However, the neurocognitive mechanisms of this tactic are unclear, and inconsistencies in terminology and methods across studies make it difficult to synthesize the literature. To promote more effective research, we propose a taxonomy of distancing within the broader context of emotion regulation strategies; review the effects of this tactic; and offer a preliminary neurocognitive model describing key cognitive processes and their neural bases. Our model emphasizes three components-self-projection, affective self-reflection, and cognitive control. Additionally, we present results from a supporting meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies of distancing. These efforts are presented within the overarching goals of supporting effective applications of distancing in laboratory, clinical, and other real-world contexts, and advancing understanding of the relevant high-level cognitive functions in the brain.
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“These include (1) affective cognitive control and (2) self-perspective processing, both of which have been posited as theoretical components of decentering.6 29”
From Protocol for a randomised controlled trial investigating an intervention to boost decentering in response to distressing mental experiences during adolescence: the decentering in adolescence study (DECADES) (2022) · cites this paper as [29]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Powers, J. P., & LaBar, K. S.
- Affiliations
- Duke University (US)
- Corresponding author
- LaBar, Kevin S.
- Venue
- Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2019-01
- Volume
- 96
- Pages
- 155-173
- ISSN
- 0149-7634 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6326885
- OpenAlex
- W2903225919
- Cited by
- 173
- References
- 147
- Citations by year
- 2026: 22 · 2025: 28 · 2024: 24 · 2023: 31 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 29 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 9
- FWCI
- 1.57
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (R01 MH113238)
- National Science Foundation (DGE-1644868)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotions and Moral Behavior
- Keywords
- distancing, emotion regulation, psychological distance, perspective taking, self-projection, cognitive control, neurocognitive model
- MeSH terms
- Brain, Emotions, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Models, Neurological, Models, Psychological, Emotional Intelligence
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