The neurophysiological effects of detached and positive reappraisal during the regulation of self-conscious emotions.

Background: While cognitive reappraisal represents a promising emotion regulation strategy in regulating basic emotions, little experimental research has investigated its efficacy in reducing self-conscious emotions such as shame and guilt.

Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of detached reappraisal and positive reappraisal in regulating feelings of shame and guilt, and also compared the effectiveness of these two strategies using behavioral and event-related potentials.

Method: Thirty-nine participants grouped either in positive reappraisal or detached reappraisal condition were informed to advise the decider to perform a dot-estimation task. Participants were also informed that the payment of the decider would be reduced if he/she adopted the wrong advice provided by them.

Result: The behavioral results demonstrated that both regulation strategies reduced shame and guilt when compared to the observation stage. We also observed a phenomenon (absent during the regulation of shame) where regulating guilt resulted in a higher parietal P3 amplitude, a component related to negative experiences, compared to the observation phase in the detached reappraisal group.

Conclusion: The results demonstrated that both regulation strategies were able to regulate self-conscious emotions (shame, guilt) effectively. The findings of this study enhance our understanding of the neurophysiological effects of different regulation strategies on self-conscious emotions.