A Matter of Perspective? Exploring Self-Distanced Reflections as an Emotion Regulation Strategy for Individuals in High-Stress Occupations

Sammanfattning

This study investigates the effects of a linguistic self-distancing technique during reflection on affect, challenge versus threat appraisal, and anticipatory stress for individuals in high-stress occupations. Research in the laboratory suggests that reflections using non-first-person pronouns can reduce emotional reactivity to stressors, improve challenge appraisal, and reduce stress anticipation for future stressors. This study was conducted through an online questionnaire including a short reflection task. Participants were asked to reflect on a recent stressful work event either from a self-distanced or a self-immersed perspective. Self-assessments of global affect were collected pre- and post-reflection, while post-reflection reports of positive and negative affect in particular, as well as challenge versus threat appraisal and anticipatory stress were recorded. General measures of work stress and emotion regulation skills were included as covariates. A repeated-measures ANCOVA revealed no significant changes in global affect at the group level, but the interaction of gender and time of assessment showed a significant decrease in global affect scores only for female participants in the control group. Univariate ANCOVAs further showed no significant effects concerning positive and negative affect scores, or challenge versus threat appraisal. Interestingly, there was a significant group difference in anticipatory stress, revealing higher stress scores for the self-distanced over the self-immersed condition. The results contradict current research and emphasise the need to consider gender-specific differences in the effects of self-distanced reflections. Implications towards their suitability in unguided, naturalistic contexts and for regulating occupational stress in specific will be discussed with regards to methodological limitations.