People's dispositional makeup, their emotion regulation preferences, and their effects on wellbeing.

In order to feel better, or interact adequately with others, regulation of emotions is often necessary –many construe it as a major component of emotional intelligence. But regulation takes many forms, requires various resources, and its intra- and interpersonal effects might be functional and adaptive, or not. Who is most likely to regulate emotions effectively, and how? Do regulation modes differ in their effects? To shed further light on the regulation construct, this study examined two strategies, expressive Suppression and Reappraisal (Gross & John, 2003) in relation to dispositional (e.g., alexitimia, coping, attachment) and personal (sex, age) variables, and their effect on wellbeing (e.g., health, loneliness). Participants were young men and women (N = 1,075, 17-33 year-olds). The results confirmed that what regulation strategies a person favours is indicative of, congruent with, crucial aspects of her 'overall makeup’, her ways of dealing with emotional events, and predicts her wellbeing. Higher levels of alexitimia (especially in the comunication of feelings), unsecure, fearful attachment, avoidance coping, expressive opaqueness, and lower levels of emotion awareness were associated with a greater inclination to use Suppression, predicting lesser positive affect, life satisfaction and psychophysical wellbeing, and greater social and emotional loneliness, and negative affect. A Reappraisal preference was instead related to more positive coping strategies (e.g., problem-solving), higher levels of emotion awareness and optimism, and lower levels of alexitimia, contributing to predict higher life satisfaction, wellbeing, positive affect and perceived social support. Suppression -greater in men and younger people- and Reappraisal were not correlated