The We Helps Me: Poor Emotion-regulators Benefit from Relatedness

• Authors: Monischa B. Amlinger-Chatterjee , Nicola Baumann

Abstracts

EN

Since the construct of action versus state orientation was introduced more than 30 years ago, this measure of individual differences in the ability to intuitively self-regulate emotions has become the focus of more than 100 published studies. These studies have related action orientation to smooth psychological functioning. In contrast, state orientation is associated with a low ability to self-regulate negative emotional states intuitively and a higher risk to suffer from psychological impairments. In the present article, we investigate whether relatedness mitigates detrimental effects of state orientation. Our analysis includes relatedness on the levels of (a) culture, (b) personal values, and (c) situational cues. The findings indicate that action-state orientation matters and works similarly across non-Western (Bangladesh, India) and Western cultures (Germany, New Zealand). Merely being a member of a presumably interrelated culture does not mitigate adverse effects of state orientation. In contrast, personally valuing relatedness (i.e., benevolence) and situationally cueing relatedness (i.e., thinking about similarities with a friend) both compensate state orientation – especially in conjunction with each other.

Keywords

EN

action versus state orientation; relatedness; personal values; benevolence; priming similarities; culture

• Publisher: Polska Akademia Nauk
• Journal: Polish Psychological Bulletin
• Year: 2018
• Volume: 49
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 50-58

Dates

published

2018

Contributors

author

Monischa B. Amlinger-Chatterjee

author

Nicola Baumann

Identifiers

Biblioteka Nauki

2127281