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Taking charge of one's feelings: Sense of power and affect regulation

Leach, Stefan, Weick, Mario (2020) Taking charge of one's feelings: Sense of power and affect regulation. Personality and Individual Differences, 161 . Article Number 109958. ISSN 0191-8869. (doi:10.1016/j.paid.2020.109958) (KAR id:92185)

Abstract

People who can effectively regulate their feelings benefit from more desirable affective lives. Here we examine whether individual differences in chronic feelings of power are associated with regulatory efforts aimed at maintaining positive affect and ceasing negative affect. In Study 1, we found that people with a stronger (vs. weaker) sense of power were more inclined to cognitively re-frame (reappraise) and up-regulate (repair) their affective experiences, whilst also being less inclined to suppress their feelings. Drawing on affective experiences sampled repeatedly over a one-week period, in Study 2 we found that people with a stronger (vs. weaker) sense of power were more likely to cease their negative affect. However, a stronger (vs. weaker) sense of power was not associated with the likelihood to maintain positive affect. Together, the findings highlight a novel domain in which power may enhance self-regulation, and help explain how power differentials shape people's affective and social lives.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1016/j.paid.2020.109958
Uncontrolled keywords: Power, Affect, Mood, Affect regulation, Emotion regulation
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Psychology
Depositing User: Stefan Leach
Date Deposited: 07 Dec 2021 12:02 UTC
Last Modified: 15 Jul 2022 23:00 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/92185 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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