Effects of emotion suppression upon memory with reference to attachment dimension

Abstract

Commonly associated with attachment dimension, individuals actively employ emotion regulation strategies, such as suppression. Despite suppression rendering the individual emotionally neutral in appearance, analysis of its self-regulatory demands suggest that it may come at a cognitive cost. 60 students at Queen Margaret University took part in a correlational study which examined the effect of suppression on memory for concurrent events, in relation to attachment dimension. Relationships between main study variables were explored using correlations and regression analysis. In support of previous literature, associations between trait suppression and attachment avoidance were found, trait suppression accounted for an estimated 18.7% of variance in avoidance scores. Conversely, no significant relationship between suppression and episodic memory was discovered. It could therefore be argued that emotion regulation is so overtly learned by adulthood that it has no significant effect on cognition. Future research is necessary to assess spontaneous regulation in more dynamic interpersonal contexts.