The role of two emotion regulation tendencies across two waiting periods

Abstract

The distress associated with uncertainty differs in important ways from distress over clear and present stressors. Emotion regulation (ER) tendencies—namely reappraisal and suppression—have received considerable empirical attention, but the stressful uncertainty of waiting for important news poses unique ER challenges. Two longitudinal studies examined the role of these dispositional ER tendencies in predicting well-being (e.g., emotions, worry, subjective health, expectation management efforts) during uncertain waiting periods. Study 1 surveyed undergraduate students awaiting their grade on a midterm exam (N = 137; a 5-day wait); Study 2 surveyed law graduates awaiting their result on the California bar exam (N = 230; a 4-month wait). Consistently with past research, reappraisal was generally associated with positive markers of well-being. However, suppression was largely unassociated with well-being, in contrast with previous evidence. Our findings confirm the unique context of uncertain waiting periods and suggest that suppression may not be as detrimental during these periods as in other stressful situations.