Do expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal affect memory?

Abstract

A widely cited idea in the emotion regulation literature holds that expressive suppression impairs memory while cognitive reappraisal has no effect on or may enhance memory relative to control. However, empirical evidence for these effects has been inconsistent. To provide a definitive test, we conducted four well-powered experiments with more than 4,000 participants to examine the effects of reappraisal and suppression of negative emotion (Experiments 1 and 3) and positive emotion (Experiments 2 and 4) on verbal and nonverbal memory. Results showed no consistent evidence for an effect of reappraisal on either type of memory, though expressive suppression of negative emotion consistently impaired verbal memory relative to control. Obtained effect sizes were small given successful emotion regulation manipulations and adequate statistical power (ds < 0.11). Conclusions are constrained to English-speaking online samples, and may not generalize to other types of memory. These findings highlight the need to systematically test widely accepted assumptions as a field. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).