Emotional Inf lexibility 125
doors won’t open. After several seconds, once you realize
you are truly stuck, you feel anxious and on the verge of
panic. You frantically push buttons (not helpful!), scan the
ceiling for an escape route (more dangerous!), and try to pry
open the steel doors (not going to happen!). Your emotions
in this situation cue you to take action to try to change the
situation; however, despite your best efforts, you remain
stuck. In a moment of surprising clarity, you realize that
feeling anxious is going to get in the way of thinking clearly
and remaining calm. To try to change your emotion alto-
gether, you might try to talk to others in the elevator or, if
you are by yourself, pass the time by doing something pro-
ductive or positive (such as watching funny videos on your
smartphone or organizing your bag or purse). If those strate-
gies don’t work, you then might try to simply lower your
anxiety by taking time to relax, breathe deeply, or more real-
istically appraise the situation (for example, People are
working to help get me out of the elevator. I won’ t be in here
fore ve r.).
Psychologists who study emotion have focused on
understanding the nature of various emotion regulation
strategies in terms of their adaptiveness. More specifically,
adaptive emotion regulation refers to particular strategies that
are helpful for effectively managing emotions and that
reduce the risk of anxiety disorders. In the elevator scenario
above, reducing the intensity of your emotional experience
through relaxation and deep breathing are examples of adap-
tive emotion regulation responses— that is, they both help
you remain calm and make sensible decisions while in the
elevator. Maladaptive strategies, on the other hand, are gen-
erally thought to be less helpful and potentially detrimental
to your well- being (frantically pushing buttons or trying to