Regulation of moods and emotions: an investigation of affect regulation and its contribution to affective outcomes

The research project titled, Regulation of moods and emotions: An investigation of affect regulation and its contribution to affective outcomes, was conducted by Sarah Pirzas. The project was designed to increase understanding of the processes underlying affect regulation - that is, the ways in which individuals respond to their moods and emotions. Following review of the literature, she designed two studies. The first sought to develop a new instrument for measuring affect regulation strategy use. Using this instrument, she found that strategies based on being active and distracting oneself from an unpleasant mood were related to greater well-being whereas passivity was related to less well-being. The second study investigated further the relationships between responses to moods and emotions and the extent to which individuals are languishing or flourishing. Overall, this project helped fill gaps in what we know about affect regulation and found that the manner in which people manage their mood and emotional experiences has a substantial impact on wellness.