Emotion regulation and high social anxiety: spontaneous and instructed use of cognitive reappraisal to regulate anger

Individuals with Social Anxiety Disorder and those high in social anxiety (HSA) experience greater anger difficulties compared to those with low social anxiety (LSA). This study examined trait and state anger in individuals with HSA (n = 46) and LSA (n = 45). The study also explored group differences in state and trait cognitive reappraisal and the effectiveness of instructed cognitive reappraisal to regulate state anger among participants with HSA and LSA in response to films containing rejection-salient content. Participants with HSA, relative to LSA, exhibited greater trait and state anger. The HSA group reported lower trait cognitive reappraisal than the LSA group. However, results revealed no significant group differences in state cognitive reappraisal. Further, both groups exhibited a significant reduction in state anger after receiving instructions to use cognitive reappraisal. These findings demonstrate that when instructed to use cognitive reappraisal, individuals with HSA were able to do so effectively, and experienced a comparable magnitude in the reduction of state anger as participants with LSA. Implication of these findings are discussed.