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Emotion Regulation and Resilience: Overlooked Connections

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2016

Sophie A. Kay
Sophie A. Kay*
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Sophie A. Kay, School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, J. S. Coon Building, 654 Cherry Street, Atlanta, GA 30332-0170. E-mail: skay@gatech.edu
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Extract

According to the focal article by Britt, Shen, Sinclair, Grossman, and Klieger (2016), it seems conclusive that all definitions of resilience involve an experience of significant adversity, regardless of whether it is examined as a trait or an outcome. This experience of adversity is inherently emotional. When considering the ability or outcome of “bouncing back” from a stressful or chronic event, one must recognize the emotional experience and consider how individuals may cope with their emotions. This said, there is a clear connection between resilience and emotion regulation. The focal article presents a descriptive model of resilience for employees, which includes mention of energy and affect as individual resources but does not acknowledge the connection between resilience and emotion regulation. In this commentary I argue that these two research areas are related but largely neglected in the current literature. I will discuss the (a) process model of emotion regulation, (b) points of connection with resilience, and (c) empirical research suggesting the importance of positive emotion.

Type
Commentaries
Information
Industrial and Organizational Psychology , Volume 9 , Issue 2 , June 2016 , pp. 411 - 415
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology 2016 

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References

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