Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ)

Ten statements describe two common ways of managing emotion. Six concern cognitive reappraisal: changing the way one thinks about a situation in order to feel differently, for example by thinking about it in a way that helps one stay calm. Four concern expressive suppression: keeping emotions to oneself and controlling them by not showing them. The first changes the emotion itself; the second changes only its outward expression.

Gross (1998) described a process model of emotion regulation in which strategies differ according to when they act in the unfolding of an emotion. Reappraisal acts early, before the emotional response is fully formed, while suppression acts late, after it has formed. Gross and John (2003) developed the questionnaire to measure habitual use of these two strategies.

Each strategy is scored separately. Higher reappraisal scores describe a stronger habit of rethinking situations to change how one feels; higher suppression scores describe a stronger habit of hiding emotions. The two are largely independent, so a person may use both, one, or neither. Research has generally associated habitual reappraisal with more positive emotion and better relationships, and habitual suppression with the reverse, although each can be useful in particular situations.

The questionnaire is used in research on emotion, well-being and psychopathology, and in therapy to identify regulation habits that might be developed. On this site, the Brief Self-Control Scale (BSCS) describes broader self-regulation, the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) describes typical emotional experience, and the Emotional Intelligence Scales describe attention to and expression of emotion.

The two scales were essentially independent (mean r ≈ .01). Factorially, two independent factors fit better than a general emotion-regulation factor (Gross & John, 2003). Convergently, Reappraisal related to coping via reinterpretation (β = .43), mood repair (β = .36), and negative-mood-regulation expectancy (β = .30); Suppression related to inauthenticity (β = .47) and (inversely) to venting (β = −.43), attention to emotion (β = −.41), and clarity (β = −.30). Discriminantly, associations with the Big Five were modest (largest |β| ≈ .20 for Reappraisal–Neuroticism and .41 for Suppression–Extraversion), and neither scale related to ego control, cognitive ability, or social desirability—indicating specificity to emotion regulation rather than general impulsivity or desirability (Gross & John, 2003). Predictively, Reappraisal predicted greater positive and lesser negative emotion experience/expression and better peer-rated closeness and liking; Suppression predicted less positive emotion, more negative experience (mediated by inauthenticity), less emotion sharing, more attachment avoidance, less social support, and worse well-being including higher depressive symptoms across BDI/CES-D/Zung indexes (Gross & John, 2003, Studies 3–5).

“When I want to feel more positive emotion (such as joy or amusement), I change what I'm thinking about.”

Illustrative only. During administration items are presented one screen-set at a time; response-key direction is never shown to respondents.

Each subscale is summed (with any published multiplier) and compared against its own cutoff bands.