Emotion regulation strategies and psychological wellbeing: Examining cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression in an Emirati college sample

Background: Cognitive reappraisal (CR) and expressive suppression (ES) are emotion regulation strategies that have been demonstrated to be differentially associated with psychological wellbeing. However, this relationship has never been investigated in a Middle Eastern sample. Method: As a contribution to the literature, we employed a cross-sectional design in which 147 college students in the United Arab Emirates were sampled (m_age = 21.37 years, SD = 4.76). We examined the extent to which CR and ES are used in this context and investigated the association between the use of these two emotion regulation strategies and affect (both positive and negative), flourishing, academic achievement, and social support. Results: A series of hierarchical linear regressions indicated that the use of CR was positively associated with positive affect (β = 0.35), flourishing (β = 0.52), emotional coping (β = 0.15), and instrumental coping (β = 0.19), and negatively with negative affect (β = −0.20). ES was positively associated with negative affect (β = 0.20), and negatively with both emotional (β = −0.40) and instrumental coping (β = −0.24). Academic achievement was not significantly associated with either CR or ES. Conclusions: This study finds that the use of emotion regulation strategies parallel those obtained elsewhere in the world. Despite cultural variations, participants in this sample also evidenced a preference for the use of CR during times of distress and its use is associated with elevated psychological wellbeing.