Emotion regulation is motivated.
Abstract
Because emotion regulation is a motivated process, one must adopt a motivational perspective to understand it. We build on the distinction between goal setting (i.e., selecting end-states to achieve) and goal striving (i.e., engaging in behaviors to achieve desired end-states). First, we discuss how these concepts apply to regulation in the emotion domain. Second, we review existing research on setting emotion goals and striving for them. Third, we highlight how goal setting and goal striving can operate in tandem to shape emotion regulation. Finally, we highlight the importance of considering emotion regulation as a motivated process, and how doing so informs key topics explored in this special issue, including those pertaining to determinants (e.g., culture as setting emotion goals), consequences (e.g., monitoring emotion goal progress and mental health), and interventions (e.g., manipulating features of emotion goal setting and striving to promote adaptive emotion regulation). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
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Breathing training is considered beneficial to the positive spirals of positive appraisals and emotion.
“breathing training is considered beneficial to the positive spirals of positive appraisals and emotion (Garland et al., 2015;Tamir et al., 2020).”
From Frontal Electroencephalography Asymmetry and Desynchronized Functional Connectivity Associated with Long-Term and Short-Term Breathing Training (2026) · cites this paper as Tamir et al., 2020
Breathing training is correlated with positive cognition.
“Researchers suggested breathing training correlated with positive cognition (Garland et al., 2015;Tamir et al., 2020)”
From Frontal Electroencephalography Asymmetry and Desynchronized Functional Connectivity Associated with Long-Term and Short-Term Breathing Training (2026) · cites this paper as Tamir et al., 2020
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Identifying the determinants of emotion regulation choice: a systematic review with meta-analysis
Matthews, M., Webb, T. L., Shafir, R., Snow, M. B., & Sheppes, G. (2021) · Cognition & Emotion · doi:10.1080/02699931.2021.1945538 · Cited by 120 · see citing works
“Intentions to regulate are likely to depend on the outcome of a cost–benefit analysis in which people consider the value, feasibility, and perceived cost of the effort required to achieve the emotion regulation goal (Milyavsky et al., 2019; Shenhav et al., 2013, 2017; Tamir, 2020).”
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Saccaro, L. F., Giff, A. E., Rossi, M. M. D., & Piguet, C. (2024) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2024.04.025 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
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“Furthermore, because people take into account the costs and benefits of different emotion regulation strategies when choosing amongst them (Tamir et al., 2020; Sheppes et al., 2014), the ready access to diverse emotion regulation resources that smartphones provide may dispose people to…”
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“Second, the success of emotion regulatory efforts does not rest on their capacity to reduce emotions; it also includes their ability to produce desired outcomes (Tamir et al., 2020).”
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“Emotion regulation is a motivated process, so the strategies and outcomes of ER are contingent upon the goals it seeks to fulfill, and these goals/motives are crucial to understanding the multifaceted nature of ER processes (Tamir et al., 2020).”
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“Having an intention and goal is necessary to initiate strategy selection and implementation (Tamir et al., 2020).”
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“Although ER is also a motivated process and can be significantly influenced by motivation (Tamir et al., 2020), there is not much evidence on howmotivational and goal-related factors can impact fatigue and effort in ER—future studies could potentially bring interesting and important conclusions on this subject.”
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“…the motivation CONTACT A. D. Monsoon Alison.Monsoon@yahoo.com Supplemental data for this article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1080/00050067.2022.2089542 © 2022 Australian Psychological Society to engage in the regulatory process (Ford & Gross, 2018, 2019; Tamir et al., 2020; see Figure 1).”
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“However, much of the literature focuses on the interpersonal and intrapersonal factors that can affect how and when one can regulate emotional dimensions (Tamir, Vishkin, and Gutentag 2020).”
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“In light of prior research that has proposed that motivation influences emotion regulation strategies (Carstensen, 1995; Tamir et al., 2020), this is a key gap in the existing literature.”
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“On the other hand, it has been proposed that how people regulate depends on the goal (Katzir et al., 2021; Tamir et al., 2020).”
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“Por medio del pro-ceso de regulación emocional, es posible cambiar las emo-ciones que se están experimentando, obteniendo con ello el estado emocional que se desea (Tamir et al., 2020).”
Emotion regulation as affective neoliberal governmentality
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“…several family system issues in individualist terms, including emotion (dys)regulation in self/others, managing emotions before/after emotional arousal, considering motivations/reasons for regulating emotions, and exploring conscious/automatic ER strategies (Gross, 2015; Tamir et al., 2020).”
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“More concrete subordinate end states serve more abstract superordinate ones, (Tamir et al., 2020).”
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“It is plausible that teacher support influences these latter factors, such as the educational or social goals pursued by children and young people (Tamir et al., 2020), or their beliefs regarding their capacity to regulate emotions (Somerville et al., 2023).”
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Thompson, R. J., Liu, D. Y., & Lai, J. (2024) · Motivation and Emotion · doi:10.1007/s11031-024-10089-8 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
“Individuals are often motivated to feel less negative and feel more positive (Tamir, et al., 2020), and research has shown that elevated momentary negative affect (NA) is associated with increased use of regulation strategies (Brans et al., 2013).”
Daniel, K. E., Moulder, R., Southward, M. W., Cheavens, J., & Boker, S. M. (2024) · Cognitive Therapy and Research · doi:10.1007/s10608-024-10493-x · Cited by 8 · see citing works
“…are associated with psychopathology (Carl et al., 2013), and yet are unique systems (Diener & Emmons, 1984) associated with unique motives (Tamir et al., 2020), our analyses separately examine the relations between neuroticism with strategy switching in negative emotion-focused regulation…”
Maras, J., & Leger, K. A. (2024) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.116701 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
“It can also be viewed as an action taken to shift current emotions towards a desired emotion (Tamir et al., 2020).”
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“…adaptiveness of ER fl exibility, investigators have underscored that we must consider one ’ s ER goals, as these goals in fl uence which ER strategies are selected and how they are applied (Aldao et al., 2015; Bonanno & Burton, 2013; Hartmann et al., 2023; Millgram et al., 2019; Tamir et al., 2020).”
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“Tamir et al. (2020) investigated the relevance of emotion regulation from a motivational perspective to understand how goal setting (i.e., desired emotions) and goal striving (i.e., guiding behaviour to achieve the desired 1 3 goal) shape emotion regulation and promote adaptive strategies.”
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“For example, the type and intensity of emotion (Aldao, 2013; Barrett et al., 2001; Dixon-Gordon et al., 2015), motivation (Tamir et al., 2020), timing of implementation (Diedrich et al., 2016), and perceived controllability of the situation (Troy et al., 2013) influence not only the ER-success but…”
BackgroundStrakosch, A.-M., Schulze, K., Miano, A., Pruessner, L., & Barnow, S. (2024) · Current Psychology · doi:10.1007/s12144-024-06114-1 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
“…factors when investigating reappraisal use to better understand its complex relationship with regula - tory processes (e.g., regulatory goals; Tamir & Ford, 2009 ; Tamir et al., 2020 ; Webb et al., 2012 ) and outcomes such as negative affect or depressive symptoms (Uusberg et al., 2023 ).”
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“What people want to feel guides how they regulate their own and others’ emotions (Tamir, 2016; Tamir et al., 2020).”
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“It alludes to the processes that allow people to manage their emotions to respond in an adaptive manner to the demands of the environment and to manage emotions in social interactions (Gross and John, 2003; Tamir et al, 2020; Zimmer-mann and Iwanski, 2014).”
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“According to a motivational perspective of emotion regulation, emotion regulation is a motivated process that involves actions directed to shift current emotions toward desired emotions (Tamir et al., 2020).”
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“…evaluate the dif fi culty in regulating negative emotions as a core and prominent feature in depressive and anxiety symptoms, although recent data have highlighted the signi fi cance of dif fi culty in regulating positive emotions within the context of higher mood symptoms (see Tamir et al., 2020).”
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“There has been a growing interest in the literature on emotion regulation in not only how people regulate their emotions (i.e., emotion regulation strategies) but also why people regulate their emotions (i.e., emotion regulation motivation) (Matthews et al., 2021; Tamir et al., 2020).”
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“As an extension of this account, emotion regulation is viewed as a form of self-regulation that is motivated by the reduction of the distance between a current emotional state and an emotional goal-state (Carver & Scheier, 1990; Tamir et al., 2020).”
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“This includes examining their goals, motivations, and norms, as well as who they are with, during different sampled moments (Tamir & Hu, 2024; Tamir et al., 2020; Vishkin & Tamir, 2023).”
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“Emotional self-regulation (or short, emotion regulation) is a specific form of self-regulation that refers to a process in which action is taken to shift current emotions toward desired emotions (Tamir et al., 2020).”
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“To this end, emotional goal setting, which is the activation of a desired emotion as an individual’s goal (Tamir et al., 2020), becomes important.”
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Kreibig, S. D., Jung, S., Samson, A. C., & Gross, J. J. (2025) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/psyp.70153 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
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“Key components of ER are the ability to regulate abilities such as impulsivity, planning, coping skills and frustration tolerance (3).”
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“The last reason might be the issue of emotional regulation (Tamir et al., 2020) in that academics may have used effective emotional regulation strategies to maintain a stable level of affect over time.”
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“According to Tamir et al. (2020), emotional regulation is a process that consists in actions directed to change real and/or current emotions for desired and/or expected ones.”
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Yu, C.-W. F., Chang, Y.-P., Li, C.-H., & Wu, H.-Y. (2022) · Journal of Happiness Studies · doi:10.1007/s10902-022-00584-5 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“Specifically, because emotion regulation is a goal-directed behavior (Gross, 2015; Tamir et al., 2020), we focused on two beliefs about emotion—the desirability of happiness belief and the uncontrollability of negative emotion belief—to capture the two fundamental features of a goal—desirability and feasibility (Eccle…”
BackgroundDevelopment of Emotion Regulation Strategies Scales in Sports Competition
Aiba, E., Matsuda, K., Kodama, A., & Sugiyama, Y. (2022) · Japanese Journal of Sport Psychology · doi:10.4146/jjspopsy.2021-2106 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
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Empathy Regulation in Clinical Science: Regulating the Therapeutic Emotional Circuit
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“That is, people are instrumental in how they regulate their emotions (Tamir, 2016; Tamir et al., 2008, 2020).”
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“How individuals engage in emotion regulation depends on the goals they pursue (Tamir et al., 2020 ).”
Self-citationAdams, A. M., Smith, G. T., Widiger, T. A., & Segerstrom, S. C. (2026) · Personality Science · doi:10.1177/27000710261421533
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“As such, greater precision and, as a result, stronger effect sizes, would emerge by including positive emotions measured at different timescales, in addition to information about emotion goals, for example (Tamir et al., 2020).”
Tornquist, M., Chiappe, D. L., & Herrmann, E. (2025) · Motivation and Emotion · doi:10.1007/s11031-025-10154-w · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“…we attempted to examine some key predictors of goal pursuit, and some potential mediators explaining this relationship, future studies should extend reappraisal and goal pursuit, which is consistent with perspectives proposing that emotion regulation is a motivated process (Tamir et al., 2020 ).”
The role of desired positive affect in depression in daily life.
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“Consistent with other theory and research (Tamir, 2009, 2014; Tamir & Bigman, 2014; Tamir et al., 2020) concerning emotion goals, it seems that our participants much of the time were successful in regulating their experience of emotions in the desired direction.”
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“Emotion regulation, an effortful mental process, aims to shift an individual’s current emotional state to a more desirable one (Tamir et al., 2020).”
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“Beyond experiencing positive emotions, people actively pursue them because desired emotional states often align with personally meaningful goals and values (Tamir et al., 2020).”
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“Recent studies propose a fourth component: emotion regulation motives (e.g., Tamir, 2016; Tamir et al., 2020).”
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People in more individualist cultures are more motivated to make others feel better
Yaari, S. G., Chentsova-Dutton, Y. E., Riediger, M., Rauers, A., Kim, M. Y., Miyamoto, Y., Vishkin, A., Freitag, J. A., Cieciuch, J., Gurevich, M., et al. (2026) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.2533994123
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“Racing serves as the central interaction metaphor because of its psychological alignment with goal-oriented motivation [9, 24].”
Junker, N. M., Marx‐Fleck, S., Heimrich, J., Rigotti, T., & Häusser, J. A. (2026) · Journal of Business and Psychology · doi:10.1007/s10869-026-10110-6
- Authors
- Tamir, M., Vishkin, A., & Gutentag, T.
- Affiliations
- Hebrew University of Jerusalem (IL)
- Venue
- Emotion
- Published
- 2020-02
- Volume
- 20
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 115-119
- ISSN
- 1528-3542 (ISSN-L)
- 1931-1516
- OpenAlex
- W3002084070
- Cited by
- 154
- References
- 13
- Citations by year
- 2026: 19 · 2025: 35 · 2024: 38 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 5
- FWCI
- 16.94
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Emotion (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotions and Moral Behavior
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Behavioral Health and Interventions
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Keywords
- emotion regulation, motivation, goal setting, goal pursuit, emotion monitoring, mental health, adaptive emotion regulation, emotion regulation interventions
- MeSH terms
- Emotional Regulation, Emotions, Humans, Motivation
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