Expressive Suppression and Executive Functioning

Expressive suppression is an emotion regulation strategy that consists of top-down, conscious control of reflexive behavioral expression of emotion (e.g., stifling laughter or crying, or maintaining a neutral facial expression to hide emotions; Gross & John, 2003). There is considerable evidence showing that emotion regulation in general and expressive suppression in particular is related to executive functioning (EF). First, emotion regulation and EF develop in tandem in childhood (Carlson & Wang, 2007; Eisenberg, Spinrad, & Eggum, 2010; Liebermann, Giesbrecht, & Muller, 2007).  Second, the networks that subserve emotion regulation and EF overlap, as is evidenced by imaging and lesion studies (Abler, Hofer, & Viviani, 2008; Giuliani, Drabant, Bhatnagar, & Gross, 2011; Hermann, Bieber, Keck, Vaitl, & Stark, 2014; Ohira et al., 2006; Salas et al., 2016). Third, successful execution of expressive suppression relates to performance on EF tests (Gyurak, Goodkind, Kramer, Miller, & Levenson, 2012). And lastly, both experimentally-manipulated (Fischer, Kastenmüller, & Asal, 2012; Franchow & Suchy, 2017; Schmeichel, 2007) and naturally-occurring (Franchow & Suchy, 2015; Niermeyer, Franchow, & Suchy, 2016; Niermeyer, Ziemnik, Franchow, Barron, & Suchy, 2018) expressive suppression are associated with subsequent decrements in behavioral control and EF performance, presumably due to depletion of executive resources.

In our laboratory, we have conducted several projects that examined both how self-reported expressive suppression and experimentally-manipulated expressive suppression result in decrements in EF.  We are consistently finding that expressive suppression has deleterious impact on EF test performance (as measured by the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System test, motor sequencing tests, and the Behavioral Dyscontrol Scale), as well as on instrumental activities of daily living.  Additionally, expressive suppression also interferes with the ability to learn new material, thereby interfering with practice effects as far out as one year after the initial test exposure.

When assessing expressive suppression via self-report, we use a measure developed in our laboratory (Burden of State Emotion Regulation Questionnaire; BSERQ).  When experimentally manipulating expressive suppression, we use a variety of amusing and disgusting images and videos that participants are asked to watch without showing disgust or amusement on their face.

This research serves as one of the bases of the ConVExA model studied in our laboratory.