Emotion Regulation Questionnaire

What it measures

Measures habitual use of two key emotion regulation strategies. Reappraisal involves changing how one construes a situation to alter its emotional impact; suppression involves inhibiting emotional expression. Reappraisal consistently predicts better wellbeing than suppression.

Response format

Likert (1–7, strongly disagree to strongly agree)

Representative items

• When I want to feel more positive, I change what I'm thinking about. (Reappraisal)
• When faced with a stressful situation, I make myself think about it in a way that helps me stay calm. (Reappraisal)
• I control my emotions by not expressing them. (Suppression)
• When I am feeling negative emotions, I make sure not to express them. (Suppression)

Usage notes & scoring

Freely available from Jim Gross's Stanford lab website. Two subscales are analysed separately. Widely used as a moderator in laboratory emotion induction paradigms and as an outcome in intervention research.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Gross, J.J., & John, O.P. (2003). Individual differences in two emotion regulation strategies: Implications for affect, relationships, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(2), 348–362.

Keywords