A study conducted by two researchers at the Institute of Psychology at the University of Lausanne sheds light on the impact of personality on the way we feel and control our emotions. The research questions the effectiveness of two strategies commonly used to manage emotions.
Learning to manage our emotions is a daily challenge, both to preserve our personal equilibrium and to promote harmonious relations with others. Changing the way you look at a stressful situation, welcoming your feelings without judging them, or using meditation: there are many strategies for regulating emotions. But learning them is far from easy. For some people, particularly those with personality disorders, the obstacles are more pronounced and can hinder social, emotional or professional integration. Hence the importance of understanding how these strategies work, and whether they really do. Understanding their mechanisms opens the way to more effective prevention of psychological suffering.
In their research, doctoral student Elena Trentini and professor Elise Dan Glauser from the Laboratoire d’étude des processus de régulation cognitive et affective (CARLA) analyzed the personality traits of around 100 students and measured the way they managed their emotions. To do this, participants were exposed for several seconds to positive images (animal and human babies,Ölandscapes) and negative images (snakes, spiders, animal abuse, human rights violations) from the GAPED Pictures image bank. The images were presented in nine blocks of sixteen. At the start of each block, participants were given specific instructions: to let their emotions flow freely, to welcome them without judgment, or to conceal them completely. For each image, they were asked to rate their emotional experience using a dial.
Physiological sensors were also installed to measure facial expressions, heart rate, respiration and skin conductance during exposure to the images. A week later, participants completed questionnaires on personality and emotional regulation. All these data were used to establish links between their emotional reactions and their respective personality profiles.
Two distinct profiles
The study reveals two very distinct groups: the "resilient", who have more resources to regulate their emotions and are less prone to emotional difficulties, and the "under-controlled", who are more vulnerable, characterized by difficulties in regulating their emotions and marked by a tendency towards negative affect, anxiety and depressive symptoms. Personality traits that make daily life more emotionally difficult to manage, and thus increase the risk of psychological suffering.
Differences visible on the body, not on the face
The study also shows that the participants’ feelings and facial expressions are surprisingly similar for the two profiles identified. The differences are most apparent in the body, via physiological measures such as heart rate and skin conductance. The "resilient" participants also showed better cardiac modulation in the face of negative stimuli. These results show that, beyond strategy and personality, the effects can be nuanced according to the response, or "emotional symptom" we want to regulate.
Developing more individualized, tailored approaches
The study concludes that personality plays a role in how we regulate our emotions, but perhaps to a lesser extent than context or strategy, and that it also depends on the channel (e.g. subjective feelings, facial expressions or heart rate) we want to regulate. In fact, the strategies tested, although commonly used in therapy or in everyday life, have not proved effective on all emotional responses. In view of these findings, the researchers point out that popular methods of "emotion management" are not always enough. "It is essential to develop more individualized approaches, adapted to specific emotional profiles, especially for particularly vulnerable people", stresses Elise Dan Glauser.
This study is part of a Swiss National Science Foundation-funded project conducted from February 2020 to January 2026, dedicated to the impact of individual differences on the emergence, selection, implementation and effectiveness of emotional regulation strategies. Eight scientific articles have been published to date, and several more are in preparation.
Find all Elise Dan Glauser’s publications on her IRIS profile!
