Implicit theories of emotion and fear of emotion: Testing of mediating and moderating models

Fear of emotion, or the fear of loss of control or of physical harm in response to the experience of an emotion, may interfere with adaptive emotional functioning and has been implicated in the development and maintenance of numerous psychological disorders. The present study investigated the associations between one's implicit beliefs of emotion, judgments of self-efficacy of emotion regulation, acceptance of internal experiences, and tear of emotion. Specifically, I proposed that entity theories of emotion would be associated with heightened fear of emotion, and that personal self-efficacy beliefs would act as a mediator between these two variables. Further. I predicted that an individual's acceptance of internal experiences would moderate the relationship between implicit beliefs and fear of emotion. Results supported acceptance as a moderator but did not provide clear evidence supportive of mediation by emotion regulation self-efficacy. Further research directions and clinical implications of this work are discussed.