Context-Dependent Emotion Regulation: Suppression and Reappraisal at the Burning Man Festival

Do people use different emotion regulation strategies in different social contexts? To answer this question, we compared typical emotion regulation use with emotion regulation use at a temporary annual art festival (Burning Man). We assessed two common emotion regulation strategies: expressive suppression (linked to generally negative outcomes) and cognitive reappraisal (linked to generally positive outcomes). Compared to typical emotion regulation use at home, at Burning Man participants reported decreased suppression use and increased reappraisal use. We consider implications for understanding contextual variation in emotion regulation and discuss the properties of the Burning Man context that may facilitate this more adaptive emotion regulation profile.