The Impact Of Emotional Regulation Strategies On Moral Decision-making Under Different Cognitive Resources

Researches have found that effective use of emotional regulation strategies(such as cognitive reappraisal,expression inhibition,etc.)in moral decision-making can lead to more utilitarian decisions.But the mechanism of the two modes of regulation is different.Cognitive reappraisal guides emotional change by changing attitudes toward things,focusing on emotional antecedents(i.e.situations),while expression inhibition controls emotions by suppressing subjective feelings,focusing on emotional responses(i.e.behaviors).Studies have shown that there may be differences in the demand for cognitive resources between the two approaches.This study explores the effects of these two emotional regulation strategies on moral decision-making under different cognitive resources.The participants in the experiment were all college students aged 18-24.Pre-experiment was conducted to investigate whether cognitive reappraisal and expression inhibition strategies could affect subjects’ emotions and thus affect their evaluation of immoral behavior.The results showed that the effect of emotional regulation strategy was significant.Compared with the control group,the cognitive reappraisal group and the expression inhibition group had more positive emotional self-evaluation and more positive evaluation of immoral behavior.In Experiment 1,2(Time pressure: Yes or No)×3(Emotional Regulation Strategy: Cognitive Reappraisal,Expression Inhibition,None)were designed among the subjects.The cognitive resources available to the subjects were controlled through the time pressure paradigm to explore the effects of different emotional regulation strategies on moral decision-making.The results showed that the interaction effect between time pressure and emotional regulation strategies was significant.Without time pressure,both cognitive reappraisal group and expression inhibition group were more inclined to choose utilitarian decision-making and evaluate their moral level more positively.Cognitive reappraisal had no significant moderating effect under time pressure,while expression inhibition still had significant moderating effect.Experiments 2(Cognitive Resource Depletion: High or Low)×3(Emotional Regulation Strategy: Cognitive Reappraisal,Expression Inhibition,None)were designed among the subjects.Stroop task was used to make the subjects in the experimental group suffer higher cognitive loss condition to explore the impact of emotional regulation strategies on moral decision-making under different cognitive resource depletion conditions.The results showed that the interaction effect between cognitive resource depletion and emotional regulation strategies was significant.With the absence of cognitive resource depletion,both cognitive reappraisal group and expression inhibition group were more inclined to choose utilitarian decision-making and scored more positively on the moral level of their decision-making.Without the absence of cognitive resource depletion,expression inhibition still had a significant moderating effect,while cognitive reappraisal had no significant moderating effect.The conclusion is drawn from the above experiments:(1)Emotional regulation is influenced by cognitive resources and has a significant effect on moral judgment.(2)When cognitive resources are unlimited,both cognitive reappraisal and expression inhibition make subjects more inclined to choose utilitarian decision-making.(3)When cognitive resources are limited(with time pressure or cognitive resources are depleted),compared with cognitive reappraisal,inhibition of expression can make subjects more inclined to choose utilitarian decision-making.