Emotion Regulation

Title

Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ)

Study

PCS3

Copyright Information

Available in the public domain.  A copy of the ERQ is accessible from Dr. John’s webpage

Primary Reference

John, O. P., & Gross, J. J. (2004). Healthy and unhealthy emotion regulation: Personality processes, individual differences, and life span development. Journal of Personality, 72, 1301-1333.

Purpose

To assess the extent to which the respondent makes habitual use of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression as strategies for managing emotions.

Type of Measure

Established

Description

Respondents use a 7-point discrete visual analog scale to indicate the extent to which 10 self-descriptive statements regarding the experience and expression of emotions pertain to them.

Scaling

1 = Strongly Disagree, 4 = Neutral, 7 = Strongly Agree

Number of Items

10 (6 Reappraisal items & 4 Suppression items)

Sample Items

• I keep my emotions to myself.
• When I want to feel less negative emotion I change the way I’m thinking about the situation.

Psychometrics

Internal consistencies in undergraduate men (n = 389), undergraduate women (n = 735), and middle-aged women (n = 106) (John & Gross, 2004)

• Reappraisal, Cronbach’s α = 0.72, 0.79, and 0.76
• Suppression, Cronbach’s α = 0.67, 0.69, and 0.64

Internal consistencies in PCS3 (n = 213)

• Reappraisal: Internal consistency, Cronbach’s α = 0.83
• Suppression: Internal consistency, Cronbach’s α = 0.76

Scoring

Reappraisal Scale: Average Score of Items: 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10
Suppression Scale: Average Score of Items: 2, 4, 6, 9

Variables

• ERQ Reappraisal score
• ERQ Suppression score