Extrinsic Emotion Regulation Under Stress: Examining the Role of Intensity and Controllability

Emotion regulation plays a crucial role in psychological well-being, particularly during timesof stress. While intrinsic emotion regulation has been extensively studied, the dynamics ofextrinsic emotion regulation (EER) - the process of regulating others' emotions - across variousstress contexts remains underexplored. This study investigated the influence of situationalfactors on EER strategies during routine and high stress periods. Two experiments wereconducted, one during routine times (n = 51) and another three months into the Israel-Hamaswar that started on October 7, 2023 (n = 90). Participants engaged in an EER task involvingdaily life (routine time) or war-related (stress time) scenarios that varied in emotional intensityand controllability. They provided supportive messages in writing to the hypotheticalindividuals and reported their use of reappraisal and distraction strategies. The results revealedthat engaging in EER improved both positive and negative affect in both contexts. Notably,distraction use was significantly higher during stress time compared to routine time, whereasreappraisal use did not differ between the two samples. During routine times, reappraisal wasused more in low-intensity, uncontrollable situations, while distraction use was notsignificantly influenced by situational factors. During stress, reappraisal use was influenced bycontrollability regardless of intensity, while distraction was used more in controllablesituations, particularly those of low intensity. These findings highlight the complex dynamicsof EER strategy selection across stressful and non-stressful periods, and underscore theimportance of considering situational factors in understanding extrinsic emotion regulationprocesses. This study brakes new grounds by showing, for the first time, how interactionsbetween situational and contextual factors influence support provision, with implications fordeveloping targeted interventions to enhance emotional resilience in both everyday and high-stress environments.Keywords: emotion regulation, extrinsic emotion regulation, stress, reappraisal, distraction,controllability, intensity.