Emotion goals, emotion regulation, and mental health: a mediational hypothesis

Objective Until recently, studies have focused their attention on the different ways individuals regulate their emotions. What remains to be known are the reasons underlying individuals’ emotion regulation choices and their consequences. In this cross-sectional study, we aimed to provide preliminary evidence on individual differences in how emotion goals, emotion regulation strategy choice, and individuals’ mental health are associated.Method A sample of 400 Portuguese adults from the community was used.Results Pro-hedonic goals were associated with the use of less suppression, more emotion communication, and more positive reappraisal, which in turn were associated with better mental health. Contra-hedonic goals were associated with the use of more suppression and less positive reappraisal, which in turn were associated with worse mental health. Finally, impression management goals were associated with the use of more suppression and more rumination, and less emotion communication, which in turn were associated with worse mental health.Conclusions Overall, our findings seem to suggest that emotion goals are linked to individuals’ mental health via emotion regulation strategies.