Physics Commons^™

Compassionate Reappraisal And Emotion Suppression As Alternatives To Offense-Focused Rumination: Implications For Forgiveness And Psychophysiological Well-Being, Charlotte Vanoyen-Witvliet, Nathaniel J. Deyoung, Alicia J. Hofelich, Paul Deyoung

Faculty Publications

This within subjects experiment (28 females, 26 males) examined three responses to a past interpersonal offender. We contrasted offense-focused rumination with two subsequent, counterbalanced coping strategies: compassionate reappraisal and emotion suppression. Compassionate reappraisal emphasized the offender's human qualities and need for positive change. Emotion suppression inhibited the experience and expression of negative offense-related emotions. Offense rumination was associated with negative emotion, faster heartbeats (i.e., shortened electrocardiogram R-R intervals), and lower heart rate variability (HRV; i.e., the high-frequency component of the R-R power spectrum). By contrast, both compassionate reappraisal and emotion suppression decreased negative emotion in ratings and linguistic analyses, calmed …