Drawing on social exchange and emotional regulation perspectives, this study investigates the role of emotional suppression in reducing the detrimental effects of workplace ostracism on organizational learning. Based on the responses of 162 participants from the financial industry, and with the application of moderated mediation analysis, the findings demonstrate that workplace ostracism is mediated by employee silence, which has a negative effect on organizational learning. Interestingly, however, the results exhibit that emotional suppression operates as a buffer between workplace ostracism, employee silence and organizational learning, which leads to the achievement of organizational learning motives. Therefore, the silent employees, who experience workplace ostracism, may still be contributing toward organizational learning, if they are proficient in suppressing their emotions. Given that, the study implies that emotional suppression is fundamentally important to reduce the injurious outcomes of workplace ostracism, in the contemporary organizational settings, particularly with regard to organizational learning.

Objectives: Expressive suppression (i.e., effortful regulation of overt affect) has a deleterious impact on executive functioning (EF). This relationship has potential ramifications for daily functioning, especially among older adults, because a close relationship exists between EF and functional independence. However, past research has not directly examined whether expressive suppression impacts instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). The present study examined this association among older adults. Methods: One hundred ten community-dwelling older adults completed a self-report measure of acute (past 24 hr) and chronic (past 2 weeks) expressive suppression, a timed test of IADL, and the Behavioral Dyscontrol Scale as a measure of EF. Results: High chronic expressive suppression was related to slow IADL performance beyond covariates (age, IQ, depression), but only for individuals with low EF. High acute expressive suppression was associated with lower accuracy on IADL tasks beyond covariates (IQ, depression), but this association was fully explained by EF. Conclusions: The current results suggest that expressive suppression is associated with less efficient and more error-prone IADL performance. EF fully accounted for the relationship between acute expressive suppression and IADL performance, showing that suppression is a risk factor for both poorer EF performance and functional lapses in daily life. Furthermore, individuals with weaker EF may be particularly vulnerable to the effect of chronic expressive suppression. (JINS, 2019, 25, 718–728)

Background: Previous research suggests benefits of targeting beliefs about the unacceptability of emotions in treatment for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Aims: The current study developed and tested an intervention focusing on beliefs and behaviours around emotional expression. Method: Four participants with IBS attended five group sessions using cognitive behavioural techniques focusing on beliefs about the unacceptability of expressing emotions. Bi-weekly questionnaires were completed and a group interview was conducted. This study used an AB design with four participants. Results: Averages indicate that participants showed decreases in beliefs about unacceptability of emotions and emotional suppression during the intervention, although this was not reflected in any of the individual trends in Beliefs about Emotions Scale scores and was significant in only one individual case for Courtauld Emotional Control Scale scores. Affective distress and quality of life improved during follow-up, with only one participant not improving with regard to distress. Qualitative data suggest that participants felt that the intervention was beneficial, referencing the value in sharing their emotions. Conclusions: This study suggests the potential for beliefs about emotions and emotional suppression to be addressed in cognitive behavioural interventions in IBS. That beliefs and behaviours improved before outcomes suggests they may be important processes to investigate in treatment for IBS.

Objectives: Expressive suppression (ES) is an emotion-regulation strategy that is associated with poorer performance on subsequently administered tests of executive functioning (EF). It is not known, however, how far into the future ES interferes with EF. This study examined whether (a) ES negatively affects performance on EF tests repeated 1 year after the initial administration (presumably through interference with learning, leading to a reduced practice effect), and (b) whether such an effect, if seen, is unique to EF or whether it also affects lower-order cognitive processes needed for EF test performance. Methods: Sixty-six non-demented community-dwelling older adults were randomly assigned to either an ES group or control group. Executive and non-executive tests were administered before and immediately following the exposure to an emotionally evocative video, and then again at 1-year follow-up. Groups were compared at 1-year follow-up on tests of EF and lower-order processes, to examine whether the previously demonstrated impact of ES on EF is evident only immediately following the experimental manipulation (Franchow & Suchy, 2017), or also at 1-year follow-up. Results: The results showed that participants who engaged in ES continued to exhibit poorer performance on EF tests 1 year later. This effect was not present for performance on tests of lower-order processes. Conclusions: These results suggest that the use of ES before an EF task can interfere with the ability to benefit from exposure to that task, thereby negatively affecting future performance. (JINS, 2019, 25, 29–38)

Objectives: Accurate detection of executive dysfunction in neuropsychological assessments is complicated by the fact that executive functioning (EF) is vulnerable to temporary disruption (i.e., lapses), with more frequent lapses in older adulthood. Effortful regulation of affect (i.e., expressive suppression) is a well-known source of executive lapses in younger adults, but the generalizability of this depleting effect to older adults is unknown. The purpose of this study was to (1) determine whether EF is subject to depletion via expressive suppression and (2) to examine whether this effect is unique to EF, or whether it also applies to lower-order component processes in older adults. Methods: Ninety-seven non-demented, community-dwelling older adults were randomly assigned to either an expressive suppression group or control group. We compared performance of the groups on a battery of tests measuring EF and component processes both before and after exposure to emotionally evocative stimuli. Results: Consistent with the hypothesized depletion effect, suppressing participants showed an attenuated practice effect on post-manipulation EF relative to controls, while performance on lower-order component processes was unaffected by suppression. Conclusions: These results suggest that depletion contributes to executive lapses in older adulthood. (JINS, 2017, 23, 341–351)

Two groups of women were assessed in psychological aspects considered by some authors of interest for personal well-being. The sample consisted of 118 women, 58 diagnosed with breast cancer and 60 healthy women, of similar ages and personal circumstances. The purpose of the study was: (a) to explore the existence of stressful life events in the women's history and their degree of subjective distress and (b) to determine whether or not there is an emotional avoidance style in the group of women with breast cancer. The following assessment instruments were employed: the “Cuestionario de Formas de Afrontamiento” (CEA), the Five-Factor Inventory NEO-PI-R, and the State-Trait Anger Inventory (STAXI). The results revealed more stressful vital events in the last two years in the group of women with breast cancer and significant differences in the degree of current distress. They also obtained higher scores in current anger, resignation, and neuroticism.

Emotional suppression has played an important role in the research on psychosocial factors related to cancer. It has been argued to be an important psychological factor predicting worse psychosocial adjustment in people with cancer and it may mediate health outcomes. The reference instrument in the research on emotional suppression is the Courtauld Emotional Control Scale (CECS). The present study analysed construct validity of a new Spanish adaptation of the CECS in a sample of 175 breast cancer patients. The results confirmed the proposal by Watson and Greer claiming that the CECS is composed of three subscales that measure different dimensions, but not independent, from emotional control. The present Spanish version of the CECS showed high internal consistency in each subscale as well as the total score. According to Derogatis (BSI-18) criteria, emotional suppression predicts clinically significant distress. In short, our results support the reliability, validity and utility of this Spanish adaptation of the CECS in clinical and research settings.