The Role of Emotion Regulation in Emotion Recognition Biases

Raggi, Lorenzo

Universidad del Salvador, Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Papagna Maldonado Victoria

Universidad del Salvador, Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Sanchez, Federico Jose

Universidad del Salvador, Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Abstract

This investigation examines the association between difficulties in emotion regulation (ER) and biases in emotion recognition within a non-clinical cohort comprising 37 individuals. Employing the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) alongside the Karolinska Directed Emotional Faces (KDEF) test, the study evaluates the extent to which distinct ER impairments correspond with interpretative biases in recognising facial expressions. The analysis identified significant correlations: elevated disgust bias was associated with increased challenges in emotional control, while a pronounced neutral bias was markedly related to weaker overall ER abilities. In contrast, anger bias demonstrated a negative correlation with emotional awareness, indicating that individuals possessing heightened emotional insight tend to exhibit reduced recognition biases. These outcomes imply that ER difficulties influence both perceptual and cognitive mechanisms underpinning emotion recognition, even among non-clinical populations.

Emotion Regulation; Mentalisation; Emotion Recognition; Recognition Biases