Cited by 55Neural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesEmotions and Moral BehaviorAnxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes

The eyes have it: The role of attention in cognitive reappraisal of social stimuli

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Manera, Valeria, Samson, Andrea C., Pehrs, Corinna, Lee, Ihno A., Gross, James J.·2014·Emotion

Abstract

Cognitive reappraisal (CR) is a commonly used emotion-regulation strategy that has been shown to influence affective, cognitive, and social outcomes. Although progress has been made in elucidating the mechanisms underlying CR, the role of attention remains unclear. In the present study, we investigated the role of attention in CR by tracking participants' gazes during the presentation of videos depicting people in negative moods. Participants were asked to attend naturally or to use reappraisal to increase or decrease their emotions while viewing the videos. After each video, they rated their negative emotion experience. Results showed that participants spent more time looking at the emotional regions in the target's face (eyes and mouth) when asked to up-regulate their emotions, compared with when they simply attended to the videos. The reverse pattern was found for down-regulation of emotions. In addition, the effects of cognitive reappraisal on negative emotion experience were mediated by the time spent looking at the emotional regions, with a stronger effect for the down-regulation instruction. Finally, direct effects of regulation instruction on negative emotion were observed even when controlling for time spent viewing emotional regions, which suggests that attention and CR are distinct components that uniquely influence negative emotions. These results complement and extend previous findings on the role of attention in CR, and highlight the importance of taking attentional mechanisms into account when designing CR training.

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Crossref · 10.1037/a0037350

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Authors
Manera, V., Samson, A. C., Pehrs, C., Lee, I. A., & Gross, J. J.
Affiliations
  • Stanford University (US)
  • Freie Universität Berlin (DE)
Venue
Emotion
Published
2014
Volume
14
Issue
5
Pages
833-839
ISSN
  • 1528-3542 (ISSN-L)
  • 1931-1516
OpenAlex
W2319056267
Cited by
55
References
44
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 4
FWCI
3.34
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Emotion (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Archive ouverte UNIGE (University of Geneva) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotions and Moral Behavior
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
Keywords
cognitive reappraisal, emotion regulation, attention, gaze behavior, negative emotions, social stimuli, mediation
MeSH terms
Adult, Affect, Attention, Cognition, Emotions, Eye, Facial Expression, Female, Humans, Judgment, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Mouth, Social Environment, Video Recording, Young Adult

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