Interpersonal emotion regulation among emerging adults: insights from a comprehensive mixed-methods study

Abstract Recent research has increasingly emphasised emotions within social contexts, with a particular focus on interpersonal emotion regulation in relation to individual, familial, and social factors. The present study examines the associations between emotional expression, personality traits, perceived maternal and paternal rejection, perceived social support, and interpersonal emotion regulation in university students, integrating qualitative insights into social emotion regulation experiences. A sequential explanatory mixed-methods design was employed. The quantitative phase involved 503 university students ( M = 21.65, SD = 1.54) and examined how individual and proximal indicators of familial and social factors relate to interpersonal emotion regulation. Various scales were used to assess demographic information, interpersonal regulation, emotion expression, personality traits, perceived maternal and paternal rejection, and perceived social support. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that emotion expression was consistently the strongest predictor of interpersonal emotion regulation across all steps. While personality traits initially showed significant effects, their predictive effect decreased after adding emotion expression, perceived maternal and paternal rejection, and perceived social support. In the final model, only emotion expression and perceived social support remained significant predictors. Furthermore, emotion expression accounted for significant indirect associations between personality traits and interpersonal emotion regulation, whereas perceived social support accounted for significant indirect associations between perceived maternal and paternal rejection on interpersonal emotion regulation. The qualitative phase involved in-depth semi-structured interviews with 20 university students ( M = 21.35, SD = 1.34). Thematic analysis revealed that participants actively engaged in regulating their own and others’ emotions within social contexts, with these efforts perceived as beneficial. The findings emphasise the pivotal role of social context and nurturing environments in shaping interpersonal emotion regulation. Taken together, the integration of quantitative and qualitative insights provides a nuanced understanding of emotional regulation processes in social interactions.