Don’t Get Too Excited: Assessing Individual Differences in the Down-Regulation of Positive Emotions

Abstract

A voluminous literature has documented the importance of emotion regulation for health and well-being. The studies in this literature, however, have generally focused on the down-regulation of negative affect. Few studies have examined the down-regulation of positive affect. ... Across [three] studies, we illustrate the potential importance of the down-regulation of positive emotions as a topic of study for the field of emotion regulation.

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"Comparatively few studies have focused on the potentially detrimental consequences of positive emotions (e.g., Tugade & Fredrickson, 2007). Even fewer have concentrated on the potential usefulness of its down-regulation."

"Indeed, extreme cases of mass unregulated positive emotion, such as celebratory riots, might be rooted in situational cues that loosen individuals’ ability to down-regulate their positive emotions. At the individual differences level, both mania and impulsivity have been linked with excessive positive affectivity (Fredrickson, 1998; Revelle, Humphreys, Simon, & Gilliland, 1980). Thus although there are numerous studies illustrating the detrimental effects of negative emotions (Fredrickson, 1998), excessive positive emotions can also be socially disruptive."

[Source: Christopher Zou, Jason E. Plaks, and Jordan B. Peterson, 2017]