Emotion Suppression Decreases Delay Discounting for Monetary Outcomes

Emotion and emotion regulation figure prominently in self-control, which is a fundamental process that underlies a range of health problem behaviors. However, most research to date on these phenomena are based on correlational studies using self-report measures prone to retrospective bias or experimental studies using idiosyncratic self-control outcomes that may lack theoretical specificity. This study sought to expand the previous literature by prompting emotion and emotion suppression and measuring their impact on delay discounting, a theoretically derived measure of self-control. Adult undergraduates (n = 179) were exposed to one of three manipulations of affect (i.e., positive, neutral, and negative) using previously validated film clips. Half of these participants were instructed to suppress their emotional responses to the film clips. Following the film clips, all participants completed the delay discounting task. There were no main effects of specific emotions on delay discounting. There was a significant main effect for suppression group on delay discounting such that the suppression of emotion was accompanied by higher rates of self-control using the delay discounting task. The findings suggest, contrary to our expectation, that the suppression of emotion leads to short-term increases in self-control measured using the delay discounting task. Continued research on these complex relationships is warranted.