Date of Award
1-1-2011
Language
English
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
College/School/Department
Department of Psychology
Program
Social/Personality Psychology
Content Description
1 online resource (ii, 50 pages)
Dissertation/Thesis Chair
Mark Muraven
Committee Members
Ronald S. Friedman
Keywords
affect, fluctuations, gender, intensity, Self-control, Emotions
Subject Categories
Psychology
Abstract
One function of self-control is to inhibit inappropriate expressions of emotions to facilitate interpersonal interactions; however, self-control may predispose one to over generalize limitations of one's emotional response rather than solely in contexts in which emotional regulation is needed. The current study examined the effects of trait self-control on emotional fluctuations and emotional intensity to determine whether high self-control may be associated with diminished emotional experience. Undergraduate students (N = 298) participated in three experiments designed to evaluate the impact of self-control on emotional experience, as measured by self-report questionnaire and responses to emotionally evocative video clips using a continuous rating affect dial. Results confirmed that individuals high in self-control showed fewer trait fluctuations and less trait emotional intensity. Some evidence also indicated that state emotions are affected by self-control, however this effect may be influenced by gender differences. Whereas men high in self-control exhibited fewer state fluctuations and less state emotional intensity than women for some emotions, this effect did not reach significance for women. In fact, women showed significantly more fluctuations in guilt than men. This suggests that the experience of emotions may be limited for those high in self-control, particularly men. Limitations of these results and implications of interactions between gender and self-control are discussed. It is possible that having high levels of trait self-control, in some cases may come with the cost of an emotional life less rich in experience.
Recommended Citation
Layton, Rebekah L., "Emotion and self-control : self-control limits emotional extremes" (2011). Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024). 589.
https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/legacy-etd/589