Negative Emotional Intensity Affect Middle School Students’ Emotion Regulation Strategy Preference

The research of emotion regulation field has been a hot research area in psychology, large number of previous studies pay their attention to the differences between various strategies of emotion regulation effect, few studies involved in emotional regulation strategy preference. Recent research found that emotional intensity may be one of the important factors affecting the individual emotion regulation strategies preference. at the same time, the relevant research indicates that the emotion regulation strategies is changing along with the age growth, and it especially obvious changes in juvenile stage. Therefore, emotional intensity and age as independent variables, using emotional pictures evoked to negative emotion to examine the junior high school students’ strategy preference between distraction and cognitive reappraisal, and We assume that junior high school students with grade growth assumptions will be more inclined to use cognitive reappraisal strategy, while emotional intensity will also influence their regulation strategies preference. The results of the study show that, emotional intensity and age have a significant impact on the emotional regulation strategies preference of junior high school students,specifically:(1) Junior high school students in the high intensity of emotions more preferer the distraction strategies.and in the low intensity of emotion are inclined to use cognitive reappraisal strategy.(2) Regulating emotional strategy of junior middle school students preference has no sex difference.(3)with the age growth Junior high school students are more inclined to cognitive reappraisal strategy.(4) the first and second grade students emotion regulation strategies preferences affected by emotional intensity, but little influence on the third grade, but little influence on the third grade. This study described that the emotional intensity and age are the factors influencing the individual emotional regulation strategy preference, adolescents in the junior middle school stage with their age growth, cognitive level improved, Effects of emotional intensity of emotion regulation preference more small, will gradually preferer cognitive reappraisal strategy.