Maya Israel

Ph.D. Student

The influence of different types of feedback on the learning and improvement of emotion regulation strategies

Project description

Receiving performance feedback is fundamental for learning and improving various skills. Among these skills, feedback is inherently important for the improvement of emotion regulation skills, as prominently featured in theoretical accounts and applied interventions. However, the influence of feedback on emotion regulation has not been directly studied. Thus, my research examines the causal role of feedback in improving emotion regulation. With this aim, I focus on two central feedback-related factors: feedback type – positively or negatively valenced information, and goal type – either hedonic-goal (i.e., wanting to feel good) or improvement-learning-goal (i.e., wanting to enhance performance) can be dominant when receiving feedback. Within emotion regulation, I focus on the central regulatory preference factor, involving the notion that regulatory strategies that are preferred in a given context are more resistant to change relative to non-preferred strategies. I hypothesize that under a hedonic goal, particularly for malleable non-preferred regulatory strategies, positive feedback will be processed more, and result in higher regulatory success and higher durability manifested in the behavioral choice to maintain these strategies across time. However, under an improvement-learning-goal, particularly for malleable non-preferred regulatory strategies, both positive and negative feedback will be processed, and result in higher regulatory success and higher durability manifested in the behavioral choice to maintain these strategies across time.

About me

I hold an M.A in Experimental Psychology, and a B.A in Psychology and Labor studies, both from Tel-Aviv University. My Master's research focused on the regulatory selection stage, which involves the ability to adaptively choose between different regulatory strategies based on situational demands. I conducted this research during the COVID-19 pandemic, when individuals were under strict state-issued quarantine. My findings showed that even in the face of this unique global threat, healthy individuals were able to adaptively select regulatory strategies to cope with COVID-19-related threats. I am now interested in understanding how individuals can improve their regulatory functioning in a healthy and adaptive way. Specifically, I am interested in the influence of feedback on the learning and improvement of emotion regulation strategies.