Individual differences in cognitive control processes and their relationship to emotion regulation

Abstract

Cognitive control and emotional control share many similarities, but the specific relationship between these processes is not well understood. This study explored the relationship between three types of cognitive control (working memory updating, response inhibition and set-shifting) and two emotional regulation strategies (expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal). Corrugator electromyography, behaviour and self-reports of affect were measured as indices of emotion regulation. Results indicate that working memory updating predicted negative affect reduction during reappraisal and during expressive suppression. This study specifically shows that the working memory component of cognitive control is associated with negative affect reduction. Response inhibition and set-shifting were not specifically related to negative affect reduction, but these variables did predict aspects of emotional behaviour and regulation. These results suggest a general role for cognitive control in some aspects of emotion regulation as well as a specific modulatory role for working memory updating in the regulation of negative affect.

Keywords: Cognitive control; Emotion regulation; Working memory updating.