Effective regulation of affect: An action control perspective on emotion regulation
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The present review adopts an action control perspective on emotion regulation, contextualising the gap between emotion control goals (e.g., I want to remain calm) and emotional outcomes (e.g., anger, anxiety, and aggression) in terms of the broader literature on goal pursuit. We propose that failure to effectively regulate emotions can result from difficulties with the self-regulatory tasks of (i) identifying the need to regulate, (ii) deciding whether and how to regulate, and (iii) enacting a regulation strategy. Next we review evidence that a technique traditionally associated with regulating behavioural goals (forming implementation intentions or “if-then” planning) can help to overcome these difficulties. Meta-analysis indicated that forming implementation intentions is effective in modifying emotional outcomes, with a large effect relative to no regulation instructions (k = 21, N = 1306 d + = 0.91, 95% CI = 0.61 to 1.20) and a medium-sized effect relative to goal intention instructions (k = 29, N = 1208, d + = 0.53, 95% CI = 0.42 to 0.65). Our conclusion is that research on emotion regulation might benefit from an action control perspective and the interventions that this perspective offers.
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If-then plans are highly effective in helping people to regulate their emotions (d = .53).
“Evidence indicates that if-then plans are highly effective in helping people to regulate their emotions ( d = .53 in a meta-analysis by Webb et al., 2012).”
From Sustaining Attendance at a Mental Health Service: A Randomized Controlled Trial (2018) · cites this paper as Webb et al., 2012
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- Authors
- Webb, T. L., Schweiger Gallo, I., Miles, E., Gollwitzer, P. M., & Sheeran, P.
- Affiliations
- University of Sheffield (GB)
- Universidad Complutense de Madrid
- University of Konstanz (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Webb, Thomas L.
- Venue
- European Review of Social Psychology
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2012-03
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 143-186
- ISSN
- 1046-3283 (ISSN-L)
- 1479-277X
- OpenAlex
- W1992989374
- Cited by
- 216
- References
- 37
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 61 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 16.14
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- figshare.com
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- European Review of Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
- Sussex Research Online (University of Sussex) (submittedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Economic and Social Research Council (ES/F037449/1)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Behavioral Health and Interventions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotions and Moral Behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Keywords
- emotion regulation, action control, implementation intentions, goal pursuit, self-regulation, anger, anxiety, aggression, regulation strategies
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