Me versus everyone: Discrepancies between general and personal emotion malleability beliefs predict clinical symptoms, affect, and emotion regulation.

Abstract

One factor that relates to clinical symptoms, affect, and emotion regulation is beliefs that individuals hold about the nature of emotions, specifically the degree to which they view emotions as changeable (E. T. Kneeland, Dovidio, et al., 2016). Across two studies (Study 1, N = 371, data collected from June 2021 to May 2023; Study 2, N = 143, data collected from January 2023 to December 2023), we examined how the discrepancy between individuals' beliefs about the malleability of emotion in general relative to their own emotions related to and predicted clinical symptoms, affect, and emotion regulation efforts. Mechanisms linking the discrepancy in emotion beliefs to emotional distress and emotion regulation also were investigated, as well as how differences in emotion beliefs varied by depression status (Study 2). In line with hypotheses, a stronger bias toward viewing emotion in general as more malleable compared to one's own emotions was associated with higher psychological distress and less active emotion regulation concurrently and longitudinally. As expected, individuals with past depression or no history of depression had more of a bias toward viewing their own emotions as more malleable compared to emotion in general. The present studies address a gap in existing emotion belief research to clarify how discrepancies in general versus personal emotion beliefs are associated with emotional distress and emotion regulation and mechanisms in these relationships.143, data collected from January 2023 to December 2023), we examined (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).