Emotion Dynamics
Emotions sometimes last for seconds but typically endure for minutes, hours, or even longer. In addition, emotions may have a gentle but also an explosive start, intensify over time or immediately fade away, and reactivate or smoothly return to baseline. In this research line, we examine the psychological and neural mechanisms that underlie these changes in emotions over time.
Emotion Regulation
It is now clear that we are not mere slaves to our emotions. In fact, we can master them, at least to a certain degree. In this research line we study the strategies that people employ to regulate their emotions including distraction, rumination, reappraisal, distancing, suppression, mindfulness, and social sharing. We focus both on the short term effects of these strategies as well as their long term impact on indicators of well-being.
Emotion & Social Network Sites
Social network sites are rapidly changing the way human beings interact. For example, currently two billion people belong to Facebook, with most users logging in on daily basis. In this research line, we examine the consequences of this new type of communication for well-being. We found that (especially passive) Facebook usage has negative consequences for well-being. Currently, we are examining the mechanisms underlying this effect.
