Temporal orientation of positive reappraisal.

Abstract

Although it is well established that positive reappraisal-changing the way one thinks about an emotional event to feel more positive about it-is an effective emotion regulation strategy, researchers have only recently begun to characterize the relative utility and effectiveness of different forms of positive reappraisal. We propose that temporal orientation-thinking about the past versus the future-may be one particularly useful characterization of positive reappraisal. In three studies, participants were instructed to use positive reappraisal to feel better about a stressor and we either measured (Studies 1 and 3) or manipulated (Study 2) the orientation of those reappraisals to the future or to the past. The findings demonstrated that people tended to use reappraisals that were more future oriented than past oriented (Studies 1 and 3). In addition, although both forms of reappraisals were effective at regulating emotion, future-oriented reappraisals were slightly more effective at increasing positive emotion (Study 2) and higher in perceived effectiveness (Study 3). Lastly, people generated reappraisals that were more oriented to the past in response to stressors that were familiar (Studies 1 and 3) and/or chronic (Study 3); however, the future orientation of their reappraisals was insensitive to the characteristics of the stressors. Our results suggest that there is a clear distinction in the utility and effectiveness of past-oriented and future-oriented forms of positive reappraisal, suggesting that this novel characterization of positive reappraisals by their temporal orientation may prove critical for more fully understanding the effectiveness of positive reappraisal for regulating emotion. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).