Thesis advisor: Ellen Winner / Despite the widespread involvement of individuals in drama either as performers or audience members, psychologists know very little about the cognitive and affective underpinnings of acting. Acting may provide a powerful lens through which to understand how we understand our own and others' minds. In this dissertation, I review research on theory of mind, empathy, and emotion regulation, show how these three skills are related to acting theory and acting training, and discuss studies I have previously completed demonstrating correlations between skill in acting and skill in theory of mind, empathy, and positive emotion regulation. I then completed four studies. Study 1 was a longitudinal study comparing children (ages 8-10) receiving acting vs. visual arts training over the course of one academic year testing the hypothesis that acting training in childhood is causally related to development of advanced theory of mind, positive emotion regulation, and empathy. Study 1 found that children in acting classes gain in empathy and expression of emotion over a year above children involved in other art forms. Study 2 was a qualitative study designed to determine the kinds of habits of mind taught, explicitly and implicitly, in acting classes for children (ages 8-10). The purpose of Study 2 was to determine the extent to which acting teachers strive to teach theory of mind, empathy, and adaptive emotion regulation in their acting classes. Study 2 found that children in acting classes at this age are taught about physicality and motivation, with no emphasis on empathy or emotion regulation and only a slight emphasis on theory of mind. Study 3 was parallel to Study 1, but with young adolescents, aged 13-15. Study 3 found that adolescents involved in acting classes gain in their empathy, theory of mind acuity, and expressive emotion regulation over the course of a year over and above adolescents involved in other art forms. Study 4 was parallel to Study 2, with acting classes for adolescents. Study 4 found that adolescent acting classes focus on theory of mind and motivation, without any emphasis on empathy or emotion regulation. I conclude by considering the potential impact of this research on our understanding of typical development in theory of mind, empathy, emotion regulation, and on our understanding of individuals deficient in these skills. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Psychology.

Thesis advisor: Elizabeth A. Kensinger / Individuals' short- and long-term goals can influence the constructive nature of autobiographical memory recall. The overarching aim of this dissertation was to examine how emotion regulation goals in particular might modulate autobiographical recall at both a behavioral and neural level. In Chapter 1, a new behavioral task instructed individuals to cognitively reappraise the emotions associated with negative and positive events. Results revealed that such emotion regulation goals influence the emotional and other subjective experiences associated with recall, such that up-regulation instructions were linked to greater reported levels of emotional intensity, sensory detail, and recollection (e.g., reliving), and vice-versa for down-regulation instructions. In Chapter 2, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used as participants were instructed to decrease, increase, or maintain the emotions associated with negative autobiographical events. Decreasing emotional intensity primarily engaged neural activity in regions previously implicated in cognitive control (e.g., dorsal and ventral lateral prefrontal cortex), emotion generation and processing (e.g., amygdala, insula), and visual imagery (e.g., precuneus) during an early phase of recall as participants searched for and retrieved events. In contrast, increasing emotional intensity engaged similar regions as individuals prepared to recall negative events (i.e., before a memory cue was presented) and again as they later elaborated upon the details of the events they had recalled. In Chapter 3, individual differences in habitual use of cognitive reappraisal were measured and their relation to neural activity during autobiographical recall was examined. Results revealed that, even when not explicitly instructed to reappraise, habitual use of reappraisal was broadly associated with neural activity in cognitive control regions (e.g., dorsal and ventral lateral prefrontal cortex, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex) as well as emotion processing regions (e.g., amygdala, insula) across memories that varied in their emotionality and specificity. Taken together, these results suggest that short- and long-term emotion regulation goals can influence the construction of autobiographical memories on both behavioral and neural levels. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2012. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Psychology.

It has been hypothesized that negative emotions, left unresolved, contribute to feelings of burnout experienced by teachers. Self-compassion offers a kind, mindful way of approaching difficult emotions. The purpose of this study is to explore how teachers experience self-compassion by qualitative means. In semi-structured interviews, four elementary school teachers shared critical incidents of self-doubt or disappointment in their teaching. They also completed Neff's (2003a) Self Compassion Survey. Through intra-case and cross case analysis the findings revealed how teachers' lived experiences include episodes of conflict, reflection, resolution, and self-compassion, but in differing orders. Also, participants experienced self-compassion in ways that align with previous work on self-compassion, however an additional element of support seeking emerged. This study provided a context to understand the common ways in which self-compassion was lived out in the classroom while highlighting the differences in participants' experiences. This additional insight into the lived experience of the teachers adds to the body of knowledge regarding emotionality in the classroom and positive ways that teachers can and do regulate emotion through self-compassion. Additionally, participants' drive to seek support from others exposed a social side of self-compassion that Neff's (2003a) definition or a simple dictionary definition did not include.

The present study evaluated direct and indirect associations between aerobic fitness, executive control, and emotion regulation among a sample of children aged 8-12 years. To evaluate these associations, the study employed a cross-sectional design and full-information maximum likelihood (FIML) structural equation modeling. Although the hypothesized factor analytic model failed to converge, an alternative exploratory model allowed for the evaluation of associations between primary study variables. Results supported a moderate direct association between childhood aerobic fitness and executive control, a strong direct negative association between executive control and emotion regulation, and a moderate indirect association between aerobic fitness and emotion regulation through executive control. These findings provide preliminary evidence that executive control functions as a mediator between aerobic fitness and emotion regulation and may help explain the means by which aerobic exercise exerts its influence on emotional wellbeing among preadolescent children.

<p>Religious faith has been identified as a protective factor against negative psychological outcomes and is associated with a range of positive mental and physical health outcomes. While religion is thought to confer psychological benefits to believers in part by enhancing emotion regulation abilities and providing faith-based regulatory methods such as religious coping, these associations have not been examined empirically. This may be due to a lack of measures that are appropriate for use in repeated measures contexts, which are needed for accurate assessment of dynamic constructs such as emotions and regulation. This study employed generalizability theory in a sample (N = 146) collected in daily dairy format over 21 days to determine the reliability of commonly used measures of religiosity and religious coping at the daily level. Once reliability was established, varying time scales were used in a multilevel modeling framework to examine the associations among intrinsic religiosity, religious coping, positive and negative affect, and difficulties in emotion regulation. Positive religious coping (PRC) measured at baseline, same day, and a 1-day lag was associated with higher levels of daily positive affect, though PRC was also associated with negative affect when measured on the same day. Negative religious coping (NRC) measured at baseline predicted lower levels of daily positive affect and was associated with higher levels of negative affect when measured on the same day and a 1-day lag. NRC was also associated with higher levels of difficulties in emotion regulation at all measurement periods, though PRC and intrinsic religiosity were not significantly associated with emotion regulation difficulties. While not associated with daily positive or negative affect, intrinsic religiosity was found to enhance the effect of positive affect inertia. These results did not support the conceptualization that religiosity broadly promotes adaptive emotion regulation, but rather that intrinsic religiosity may increase positive affect by amplifying the effects of positive affect inertia. Additional work is needed with increased measurement occasions to fully understand the temporal associations among these constructs.</p>

This study uses the father-child activation theory, which identifies the father-child relationship as a source for self-regulation learning. Father-child play behaviors during toddlerhood were examined for their contribution to self-regulation skills, specifically emotion regulation and aggression. This study examined father-child play behaviors of emotion amplification, intrusiveness, positive regard, and child emotion regulation seeking in the National Early Head Start (EHS) Evaluation. Fathers who used more emotion amplification at 24 months were less intrusive, showed more positive regard, and had children who sought more emotion regulation at 24 months than fathers who used less emotion amplification. Fathers who were more intrusive during play had children who were less likely to seek emotion regulation with them than fathers of children who were less intrusive. Correlational results indicate gender differences in fathers’ intrusiveness. Children who sought emotion regulation demonstrated greater emotion regulation at 24 and 36 months than children who sought less emotion regulation during play. Furthermore, children with fathers who showed more emotion amplification and positive regard demonstrated better emotion regulation at 36 months. The regression models predicting child emotion regulation at 24 and 36 months accounted for 21% and 22% of the variance, respectively. However, only paternal positive regard and child emotion regulation-seeking during play were significant predictors at 24 months and no pathways were significant in the 36-month model. Regression models predicting child aggression were not significant. Results suggest that father-child play may be an important context for child emotion regulation development in young children.

There is much evidence that people are inaccurate in predicting the impact of future situations on their emotions. At the same time, affective forecasts have important implications for behavior, decision-making, and current mood, and may play an important role in the maintenance of emotional disorders. This study investigated two factors that influence affective forecasting: (1) Whether affective forecasting is associated with depressive symptoms and (2) Whether strategies people use to regulate their current affect influence their predictions of future emotional responses. Participants ruminated or reappraised in response to a sad mood and completed a measure of depressive symptoms (BDI). Results indicated that severity of depression symptoms was related to forecasts of greater sadness and anger to positive scenarios, as well as negative appraisals of future negative events. As expected, both BDI score and habitual use of emotion regulation strategies were correlated with participants' predictions about use and effectiveness of emotion regulation strategies in response to future scenarios. Results reinforced the usefulness of examining future-oriented cognitive processes in depression, providing insight into the role of hopelessness in the disorder. This study also shed light on the relationship between depression and predictions about the use and effectiveness of various emotion regulation strategies.

Research on the socialization of emotion has examined the role of parents’ behavioural responses to children’s negative emotions in the development of a number of psychosocial outcomes for children. Parents’ unsupportive socialization practices have predicted poorer social and emotional functioning both in childhood and later in adulthood. The current study aimed to broaden existing knowledge of the nature and impact of parent emotion socialization practices on emotion regulation. This was done through an exploration of the emotional, cognitive, and behavioural aspects of mothers’ responses to their children’s anger and sadness; by examining the impact of factors such as child gender and age as well as contextual factors on mothers’ responses; and by examining the impact of socialization practices on the development of emotion regulation. An online community sample of 114 mothers of 6- to 10-year-old children read a series of hypothetical situations in which they were asked to imagine their child responding with either anger or sadness. Mothers reported on their emotional responses, their acceptance of their child’s reaction, their causal attributions, and their socialization responses. Mothers also completed measures that assessed perceived social support, recent stressful life events, and the emotion regulation abilities of their child. Mothers were generally positive and supportive in their responses. Mothers were more likely to endorse negative responses to anger than sadness Responses did not differ according to the gender or age of the child. There was general consistency in the tendency to react positively or negatively. High levels of stressful life events predicted anger and punishment responses to child anger. Minimization of sadness was predicted by lower educational status. No other contextual factors were significant. As expected, minimization of sadness and anger both emerged as significant predictors of poorer emotion regulation in children; problem-focused responses predicted better emotion regulation for anger not sadness; unexpectedly emotion-focused responses to anger predicted poorer emotion regulation. Results are discussed in relation to the existing literature on the socialization of emotion and child outcomes. Limitations of this study and future directions for the research are discussed.

Research on the socialization of emotion has examined the role of parents’ behavioural responses to children’s negative emotions in the development of a number of psychosocial outcomes for children. Parents’ unsupportive socialization practices have predicted poorer social and emotional functioning both in childhood and later in adulthood. The current study aimed to broaden existing knowledge of the nature and impact of parent emotion socialization practices on emotion regulation. This was done through an exploration of the emotional, cognitive, and behavioural aspects of mothers’ responses to their children’s anger and sadness; by examining the impact of factors such as child gender and age as well as contextual factors on mothers’ responses; and by examining the impact of socialization practices on the development of emotion regulation. An online community sample of 114 mothers of 6- to 10-year-old children read a series of hypothetical situations in which they were asked to imagine their child responding with either anger or sadness. Mothers reported on their emotional responses, their acceptance of their child’s reaction, their causal attributions, and their socialization responses. Mothers also completed measures that assessed perceived social support, recent stressful life events, and the emotion regulation abilities of their child. Mothers were generally positive and supportive in their responses. Mothers were more likely to endorse negative responses to anger than sadness Responses did not differ according to the gender or age of the child. There was general consistency in the tendency to react positively or negatively. High levels of stressful life events predicted anger and punishment responses to child anger. Minimization of sadness was predicted by lower educational status. No other contextual factors were significant. As expected, minimization of sadness and anger both emerged as significant predictors of poorer emotion regulation in children; problem-focused responses predicted better emotion regulation for anger not sadness; unexpectedly emotion-focused responses to anger predicted poorer emotion regulation. Results are discussed in relation to the existing literature on the socialization of emotion and child outcomes. Limitations of this study and future directions for the research are discussed.

Social anxiety is associated with an unusually high level of negative affect, yet little is known about the strategies used by socially anxious individuals to manage and regulate their emotions. The present research examined differences in trait and state levels of expressive emotion suppression in high- and low- socially anxious participants, and explored possible causes and consequences of such suppression across two studies. Using self-reports of trait-like characteristics, Study 1 examined a theoretical model positing that individuals high in social anxiety would report greater emotion suppression than those low in social anxiety; and that authenticity, in turn, would predict diminished well-being. Study 2 used self-report measures administered following a brief social interaction in the laboratory to examine group differences in state-like emotion suppression and the effects of such differences on situational authenticity. Additionally, Study 2 investigated the contributions of state negative affect and acceptance of mood to help explain possible increases in emotion suppression in socially anxious participants. The results of Study 1 supported the hypothesis that diminished well-being in individuals with social anxiety is partially accounted for by low authenticity, which, in turn, is partially accounted for by high emotion suppression. Study 2 revealed that socially anxious participants suppressed their emotions more, and felt less authentic than, controls during the social interaction. However, state negative affect and acceptance of mood did not significantly mediate the relationship between group status and state-like emotion suppression. Implications of the present findings are discussed in terms of contemporary cognitive-behavioural theory and treatment, with indications for future directions for research.