Emotion regulation has been the center of the attention for a few decades, contributing to, for example, the understanding of the relation between emotion and well-being. However, criticisms and reconsiderations of self-report scale, which have played an important role in emotion regulation studies, haven't been thoroughly done. Therefore, on the basis of Gross's process-model, the present paper reviewed the existing scales of “attention deployment,” “cognitive change,” and “response modulation,” which are the three points of the emotion regulation process. In particular, the uniqueness and problems of each scale are referred when necessary. The limitation of the present paper and future view of emotion regulation studies in general are discussed in conclusion.

View full abstract

In recent literature, it may seem that research on implicit aspects of self-esteem is increasing. Many have reported the high score of implicit self-esteem is associated with positive traits and behaviors. However, a number of studies on implicit self-esteem report different results. To add additional support to the discussion, this study examines the effects of explicit and implicit self-esteem on the concept of Schadenfreude, the pleasure caused by the misfortunes of others. Two studies were conducted on this topic. In study 1, 282 participants were given modified version of scenarios from Sawada (2008) and asked to evaluate the target person with a questionnaire, deciding if the participants were of high or low social status. In Study 2, effects of explicit and implicit self-esteem were examined using the scenario created in Study 1 among 92 participants. The analysis of variance revealed that a main effect of implicit self-esteem on schadenfreude towards a target person. The higher scores of implicit self-esteem would have a higher scores of schadenfreude. Furthermore, an interaction was found between social standing and implicit self-esteem, in that the high implicit self-esteem group showed high scores of schadenfreude towards an advantaged target person.

View full abstract

This study measured emotion expressed in behaviors to ascertain the effects of expressive suppression and exaggeration in a dyadic conversation on interpersonal communication. Twenty-seven female participants were instructed to watch a film eliciting negative emotions, with a female collaborator on regulator of the experiment. After watching the film, they were asked to engage in a conversation about the film with the regulator, who suppressed or exaggerated her facial expressions during the conversation. The recipients of exaggerated expressions expressed positive emotion more, especially while the regulator was talking, and the proportion of their speaking time increased in the second half of the conversation, as compared to the recipients of suppressed expressions. These results suggest that suppression and exaggeration of facial expressions in communication play an influential role in recipients' expressive behaviors. Measurements of expressive behaviors could serve as important indicators to elucidate emotion regulation in communication.

View full abstract

To investigate the psychological characteristics of respect, 214 undergraduate students were asked to recall situations in which they respected others. The participants were asked to complete four types of survey items: a free description of the situation, the emotional experience of feeling respect, any feelings of shame, and the physiological reaction of feeling respect for others. Analysis showed that situations feel respect could be classified into four types: respect for others who have no interaction with the surveyed participant (e.g., a baseball player or architect), respect for superiors (e.g., a teacher, parent, or senior), respect for peers (e.g., a friend or class mate), and respect for junior peers (e.g., a younger member of a club). Further, factor analysis revealed two distinct emotional experiences of respect: adoration and awe. Correlation analysis showed that adoration was indicative of a self-reported sympathetic nervous reaction, and awe was indicative of a self-reported parasympathetic nervous reaction. In addition, the linkage between respect and shame differed by type of situation. For example, awe was positively associated with shame only in cases of respect for superiors or peers.

View full abstract

The present study examined the relation between Broad Autism Phenotype (BAP) tendencies and social cognition in mothers who had a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Japan. The participants of this study were 51 mothers who had a child with ASD. The survey consisted of a questionnaire (BAPQ-J) and four social cognition tasks. The results indicated a cultural difference in “pragmatic language.” Next, those who scored higher on the total BAPQ-J or on the “rigid” subscale had greater difficulty in reading emotions in situations without happy facial cues or surprised facial cues. Additionally, these individuals had greater difficulty with complex judgments, such as judging trustworthiness, from movements and multiple facial stimuli. In summary, BAP and social cognition have some correlation in mothers who have children with ASD.

View full abstract

Effects of speakers' interpersonal needs (i.e. praise seeking and rejection avoidance needs) and the presence of an audience on negative feelings experienced in speech situations were investigated. First, participants responded to scales assessing praise seeking and rejection avoidance needs. Then, they made a speech for 3–4 minutes in a room with an audience, or without. Negative feelings before and after the speech were assessed. The results indicated that negative feelings of all the speakers were strongest when anticipating making a speech. Moreover, negative feelings were stronger when making a speech in front of an audience, than when making a speech without an audience. Furthermore, speakers with high rejection avoidance needs and low praise seeking needs had stronger negative feelings than those with low rejection avoidance needs. On the other hand, there was no correlation between speakers' interpersonal needs and the presence of an audience, which affected the negative feelings of speakers.

View full abstract

In the present study, the authors focused on discrepancy between explicit and implicit self-esteem. Previous literature showed its association with maladaptive aspects such as narcissism, and the present study predicted the same tendency. Seventy-seven college students completed the Implicit Association Test for measuring implicit self-esteem, and the self-report scales of explicit self-esteem and narcissism. A series of analyses of variance revealed a significant interaction effect between explicit and implicit self-esteem on self-assertion(subscale of narcissism scale). However, this interaction effect was directionally contrary to our hypothesis. For future directions, scholars have to closely examine this interaction and collect more data.

View full abstract

Although it seems that the emotional labor process consisted of surface acting and deep acting, there were no instruments for measurement of these two aspects in Japan. The purposes of the present study were as follows: (a) translating the original version of the Emotional Labour Scales (ELS) into Japanese, (b) developing Emotional Labour Scales Japanese version (ELS-J), and (c) examining its reliability and validity. Previous studies showed that the original ELS as six factors: surface acting, deep acting, intensity, frequency, variety, and duration. However, in accord with the duration subscale consisted of only one item, though in the present study, we assumed that ELS-J has five factors consisted of 14-item and the one duration item. Data from 233 full-time workers were analyzed, and the results of factor analyses were corresponded to the original ELS. Each subscales showed sufficient internal consistency and concurrent validity with burnout scales. These findings provided support for reliability and validity of ELS-J.

View full abstract

The relationship between gambling behavior and emotions has been demonstrated in several studies. Some studies have indicated that positive emotions have an influence on reckless gambling. However, according to the Core Affect Theory of Russell and Feldman-Barrett, the emotional state is constructed of two dimensions: Pleasure–Displeasure, and Arousal–Sleepiness. In this study, the effects of gambling-irrelevant arousal without positive emotions were experimentally investigated in healthy undergraduates and graduate students. Participants (18 men and 16 women) performed a Game of Dice Task (GDT) that consisted of 18 gambling trials. Before executing GDT, participants in the experimental group performed step exercises for approximately two minutes in order to elicit arousal unrelated to the GDT, whereas those in the control group did nothing while waiting for two minutes before executing GDT. Result indicated that the experimental group became less recklessly when conducting the GDT, in comparison to the control group. This result suggests that gambling-irrelevant arousal without positive emotions might not promote, but rather inhibit, reckless gambling behavior.

View full abstract