Not Just for Tough Times: The Efficacy and Mechanisms of Positive Goal Reappraisal in Negative, Neutral, and Positive Contexts

Reappraisal is a common emotion regulation strategy that involves adjusting how a situation is appraised. While much is known about its use to reduce negative affect in negative situations, less is known about its use across negative, neutral, and positive contexts to increase positive affect (i.e., positive goal reappraisal). To fill this gap, we investigated the efficacy and mechanisms of positive goal reappraisal across three valence categories in two complementary studies. In Study 1, 158 participants rated their subjective affect and reported how they appraised depicted situations on key appraisal dimensions with and without using reappraisal. In Study 2, 70 participants completed the same task while their electromyographic and electroencephalographic responses were recorded. We found that reappraisal was effective across all valence categories, as it increased subjective positive affect and decreased subjective negative affect in response to negative, neutral, and positive pictures. Reappraisal also increased zygomaticus major reactivity for neutral and positive pictures, and decreased corrugator supercilii reactivity for negative and neutral pictures. Regarding cognitive mechanisms, we found that the effects of reappraisal were related to appraisal shifts, particularly changes in congruence and relevance. A broader range of appraisal shifts were involved in neutral and positive contexts than in negative ones, suggesting that reappraisal mechanisms may be context-dependent. Finally, reappraisal amplified the late positive potential across all picture types within a relatively early time window (263-1013 ms), indicating sustained attentional engagement. We conclude that positive goal reappraisal may be effective irrespective of stimulus valence by producing appraisal shifts.