Speaker: Kaitlyn M. Werner

Emotion regulation is a central aspect of human functioning, shaping how people navigate daily challenges and maintain psychological health. However, people can regulate their emotions in a bewildering variety of ways that unfold across time and situations. In this talk, I introduce a toolbox perspective, emphasizing how the size of one’s strategy repertoire is associated with the way people regulate their emotions in everyday life. Using experience sampling (EMA) data, I examine how differences in toolbox size relate to regulation patterns in daily life (e.g., using different forms of emotion regulation metrics, such as variability or strategy combinations). I conclude by discussing the implications of this perspective for understanding emotion regulation and psychological health (e.g., anxiety, depression, life satisfaction).