Welcome to the Emotion and Relationships Lab!
Directed by Dr. Tammy English at Washington University in St. Louis
Unwanted emotions are a part of our everyday interactions, such as when we have a disagreement with a coworker or have to make a sacrifice for our romantic partner. Regulation of these emotions plays an important role in maintaining both personal and relational well-being. When emotion regulation attempts go well, they can help us reach not only our emotional goals, but also other types of goals, such as avoiding conflict with others. On the other hand, emotion regulation can also be damaging, especially if we use strategies that are inappropriate for the situation. In the Emotion & Relationships Lab, we seek to gain a better understanding of how emotion regulation operates across different contexts, with a focus on the social nature of emotion regulation.
Recent Lab News
2023
August
- A paper that Tabea and Dr. English collaborated on with Dr. Renee Thompson was just accepted in Emotion (“Examining situational differences in momentary emotion differentiation and clarity in everyday life“)
- Tabea and Dr. English just had an article accepted by the Personality and Social Psychology Review entitled “Studying emotion regulation success in daily life: Distinctions from maladaptive regulation and dysregulation”. The full paper can be accessed here
July
- Tabea was awarded a 2023 ExpiWell Dissertation Award. Congratulations, Tabea!
June
- A symposium Dr. English is chairing (“Cognitive aspects of managing stress and unwanted emotion successfully in old age“) was accepted to the Gerontological Society of America 2024 Conference in Tampa! Tabea will give a talk at this symposium (“How often and why do people manage their emotions?: Emotion regulation in healthy aging and mild cognitive impairment“)
May
- Tabea will join UC Riverside as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology starting Summer 2024. Congratulations on the new job, Tabea!
- Congratulations to all our graduating seniors, especially to Emmet Klein and Elana Czuker, who have completed independent research projects with us this year!
February
- An article that Tabea and Dr. English collaborated on with Dr. Thompson’s Emotion and Mental Health Lab (Everyday emotion regulation goals, motives, and strategies in current and remitted major depressive disorder: An experience sampling study) was just accepted at the Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science
- Dr. English will present work from the lab on a symposium at the Association for Psychological Science Conference in Washington D.C. in May
- Tabea will present work from the lab in a flash talk at the Association for Research in Personality conference in July
January
- Dr. Growney and Dr. English just had another article accepted in the Journal of Gerontology titled “ Age and cognitive ability predict emotion regulation strategy use”
- Dr. Growney, Tabea, and Dr. English just had an article accepted in the Journal Of Gerontology titled “Age, Resources, and Emotion Regulation Need in Daily Life Emotional Contexts”
- Tabea will be presenting research from the lab in a Flash Talk at the Society for Affective Science Conference in March/April 2023 in Long Beach
2022
December
- Judy will be presenting research from the lab at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology Emotion Preconference in February 2023 in Atlanta.
- Tabea received a Research Grant from the Society for Personality Assessment. Congrats, Tabea!
August
- Welcome back to our new and returning RA’s for the fall semester!
- Dr. English is chairing a symposium on Aging and Emotion Regulation, and Dr. Growney will be presenting research from the lab at the APA conference in August.
- Tabea and Dr. English are co-chairing a symposium on Adult Emotional Development at the GSA conference in November, where Tabea and Dr. Growney will be presenting research from the lab.
July
- Congratulations to Alexandra (project coordinator) and our research assistants Rachel, Carrie, and Aara as they head to graduate school this fall!
- Best wishes to Dr. Growney in her new position at the Stanford Center on Longevity!
- Anna Leah Davis joined our lab as a research assistant and Nathaniel Eckland joined as a post-doc. Welcome Anna Leah and Nate!
- Tabea and Dr. English had a paper entitled, “Adult attachment and interpersonal emotion regulation motives in daily life” accepted in Emotion.
- Dr. Eldesouky and Dr. English had a paper entitled, “Decoding the regulator: Accuracy and bias in emotion regulation judgments” accepted in Affective Science.
- Tabea presented research from the lab at the ISRE conference in Los Angeles, CA.
- Judy presented research from the lab at the IARR conference.
June
- Tabea received a Departmental Assistant Instructor (AI) Award this year. Congrats Tabea!
April
- Tabea successfully defended her Subject Matter Exam, and Judy successfully defended her masters. Congrats Tabea and Judy!
- Dr. Growney, Tabea, Judy, and Alexandra presented work from the lab at the annual SAS conference.
- Dr. Growney presented work from the lab at the Cognitive Aging conference in Atlanta, GA.
February
- Dr. English was selected as a 2022 Association for Psychological Science (APS) Fellow, which is awarded to members who have made “sustained outstanding contributions” to the science of psychology. Congrats Dr. English!
- Dr. Growney, Tabea, Judy, and Alexandra presented work from the lab at the annual SPSP conference in February.
January
- Dr. Growney and Dr. English had a paper entitled, “Fluid and Crystallized Cognitive Resources Differentially Linked to Emotion Regulation Success in Adulthood” accepted in Emotion.
2021
December
- Judy Kwak was awarded a Departmental Research Grant. Congrats Judy!
November
- Tabea Springstein, Dr. Growney, and Dr. English had a paper entitled, “Supporting robust research on adult emotional development by considering context” accepted in Psychology and Aging
October
- Dr. English and Dr. Eldesouky recently had a paper entitled, “Always in flux: The role of attentional focus in emotion regulation dynamics” accepted in Cognition and Emotion
August
- Isidro successfully defended his dissertation! Congrats, Dr. Landa!
June
- Isidro Landa and Dr. English recently had a paper called “Variability in State Authenticity Predicts Daily Affect and Emotion Regulation Emotion” accepted in the journal Emotion
- Alexandra Gray joined our lab as a new project coordinator! Welcome Alexandra!
May
- Tabea successfully defended her Master’s. Congrats Tabea!
April
- Dr. Growney and Dr. English recently had a paper called “A relational perspective on emotion regulation across adulthood” accepted at Social and Personality Psychology Compass
- Dr. English recently published a paper in collaboration with the Emotion and Mental Health Lab: “Everyday emotional experiences in current and remitted major depressive disorder: An experience sampling study” in Clinical Psychology Science
- Dr. English recently published a paper called “Assessing the climate for research ethics in labs: Development and validation of a brief measure” in Accountability in Research: Policies and Quality Assurance
- Dr. English received a grant from the National Institute of Aging for a project studying the neural and motivational mechanisms of age-related change in emotion regulation (R01AG070139). Congrats, Dr. English!
2020
December
- Tabea Springstein was awarded a Departmental Research Grant. Congrats Tabea!
October
- Isidro Landa was awarded the Society for Personality and Social Psychology Heritage Dissertation Research Award. Congrats Isidro!
- Isidro Landa was awarded the Departmental Dissertation Research Grant! Congrats Isidro!
August
- Judy Kwak joined our lab as a new graduate student. Welcome, Judy!
June
- Dr. English and Dr. Eldesouky had a new paper published in European Journal of Psychological Assessment titled “Emotion Regulation Flexibility”.
April
- Katie successfully defended her dissertation! Congrats Dr. Bentley!
January
- Kathleen Lamb joined our lab as a project coordinator for the Cognitive and Social Processes in Emotion Regulation study. Welcome Kathleen!
2019
December
- Isidro successfully defended his dissertation proposal!
September
- Dr. English and Dr. Eldesouky had a new paper accepted in Emotion titled “We’re not alone: Understanding the social consequences of intrinsic emotion regulation”.
August
- Tabea Springstein joined our lab as a new grad student. Welcome, Tabea!
- Claire Growney joined our lab as a post-doc. Welcome, Dr. Growney!
- Dr. Lameese Eldesouky started her new position as Assistant Professor at the American University in Cairo! Congrats!
June
- Tess Wild joined our lab as a project director for the Emotion and Cognition in Older Adults study. Welcome, Tess!
April
- Dr. English received a grant from the National Institute on Aging for a project examining the influence of social and cognitive factors on emotion regulation across the lifespan. Congrats, Dr. English!
March
- Dr. English was granted tenure! Congrats, Dr. English!
- Isidro and Dr. English had a new paper accepted in the British Journal of Psychology titled “Mood regulation and relationship quality predict change in homesickness during college.”
January
- Isidro passed his qualifying exam! Congrats on ABD!