On regulating emotion expression in social interaction : the interplay of goal attainment, regulatory effort, and well-being

Expressing emotions carries important social functions in our daily lives. Although research has demonstrated that the regulation of emotion expression induces discrepancies and could be effortful and detrimental to individual well-being; possible beneficial outcomes, such as goal attainment, could ensue from expressing appropriate emotions during social encounters. This could, in turn, influence well-being outcomes. Using an event-sampling methodology (ESM) of studying one week of naturally-occurring social encounters (more than 3000 interactions collected) reported by 115 Swiss participants, this thesis investigated several related phenomena under the domain of the social function of emotion: what mechanisms of display regulation of emotion are associated with regulatory effort during daily social encounters (Study 1); whether positive emotion expression and its amplification predicts attaining goals in the workplace, and how these results could differ, depending on the interaction partner (superior vs colleague) with whom the person is interacting (Study 2). Lastly, whether success in goal attainment could reduce the negative impact, on well-being associated with regulatory effort (Study 3). We performed multilevel and polynomial regression whenever appropriate in our analyses. Variables at the personal level, such as age, gender and personality (big five) were controlled in all of our analyses. Results, as well as implications for any future research and practice, are discussed.

Doctorat, Institut de psychologie du travail et des organisations, Université de Neuchâtel