Abstract
The timing dynamics of regulating negative emotion with expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal were investigated in a Chinese sample. Event-Related Potentials were recorded while subjects were required to view, suppress emotion expression to, or reappraise emotional pictures. The results showed a similar reduction in self-reported negative emotion during both strategies. Additionally, expressive suppression elicited larger amplitudes than reappraisal in central-frontal P3 component (340-480 ms). More importantly, the Late Positive Potential (LPP) amplitudes were decreased in each 200 ms of the 800-1600 ms time intervals during suppression vs. viewing conditions. In contrast, LPP amplitudes were similar for reappraisal and viewing conditions in all the time windows, except for the decreased amplitudes during reappraisal in the 1400-1600 ms. The LPP (but not P3) amplitudes were positively related to negative mood ratings, whereas the amplitudes of P3, rather than LPP, predict self-reported expressive suppression. These results suggest that expressive suppression decreases emotion responding more rapidly than reappraisal, at the cost of greater cognitive resource involvements in Chinese individuals.
Highlights
The timing dynamics of regulating negative emotion with expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal were investigated in a Chinese sample
The results showed a similar reduction in self-reported negative emotion during both strategies
The Late Positive Potential (LPP) amplitudes were decreased in each 200 ms of the 800–1600 ms time intervals during suppression vs. viewing conditions
Summary
The timing dynamics of regulating negative emotion with expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal were investigated in a Chinese sample. The LPP (but not P3) amplitudes were positively related to negative mood ratings, whereas the amplitudes of P3, rather than LPP, predict self-reported expressive suppression These results suggest that expressive suppression decreases emotion responding more rapidly than reappraisal, at the cost of greater cognitive resource involvements in Chinese individuals. According to the time points in which a strategy has its primary impact in the emotion-generative process, Gross and coworkers distinguished between antecedent-focused and responsefocused strategies [4,5] The former refers to strategies such as cognitive reappraisal, which requires interpreting emotion stimuli in a detached, emotion-irrelevant manner to modify emotion responses before they are fully blown. Several studies with American subjects reported that suppressing the expression of negative emotions was associated with decreased wellbeing and increased depressive symptoms [15,16]
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