How controllable versus uncontrollable cognitions affect emotion processing during classroom disruptions: A video study with preservice teachers

Abstract

We studied how preservice teachers explain and regulate their emotions when faced with classroom disruptions. Participants watched a video of a disrupted classroom and were either shown a subsequent video of the disruptive student explaining their behavior or not. Those preservice teachers who attributed the disruptions to controllable factors used functional emotion regulation to a greater extent (such as cognitive change, attentional deployment, and deep acting), while those who saw the disruptions as uncontrollable used venting more often. The study suggests that understanding the student's perspective and attributing disruptions to controllable factors can improve emotion regulation in teachers.