Showcase of Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavors (SOURCE)

Personality Differences in Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Following Autobiographical Recollections of Trauma

Emotion regulation is a goal-directed process whereby people manage their emotions. This is essential for social competence and psychological well-being, particularly following adversity. Our study tested the relationship between personality traits and emotion regulation following recall of a traumatic memory. We focused on the emotion regulation strategy known as reappraisal, a process of reinterpreting distressing events to reduce their negative emotional effects. Supporting our hypotheses, after writing about trauma, the only participants able to leverage reappraisal effectively enough to lower negative affect were persons high (versus low) in conscientiousness, high (versus low) in openness and low (versus high) in neuroticism. This suggests that reappraisal is predicted by the tendency to exert effort (conscientiousness), is facilitated by an ability to see multiple perspectives (openness), and is enhanced by perceptions that emotions are controllable (low neuroticism). These findings have practical relevance, as there is evidence that a large percent of students enrolled in college report a history of past traumatic events. It is therefore important to identify effective strategies for coping with trauma. Our findings suggest that although reappraisal can be an effective approach for many individuals, it may be less advantageous for persons low in conscientiousness and openness and high in neuroticism.Future research should investigate the value of alternate emotion regulation approaches (e.g., acceptance or suppression) for persons with different personality profiles.