Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-8kt4b Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-05T14:16:13.663Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

9 - Strategies and mechanisms for the personal and social control of emotion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 March 2010

Kenneth A. Dodge
Affiliation:
Vanderbilt University, Tennessee
Get access

Summary

Achieving the effective regulation of emotion is one of the most important aspects of personality and social development. Philosophical perspectives on the character of humankind, such as those espoused by Hobbes (1651/1968) or Rousseau (1763/1974), as well as theories of personality and personality development, frequently begin with an assumption about an infant's affective character and abilities for self-regulation. From this foundation they then build a theory of character and its development, integrating issues of regulation and emotional expression. Rousseau was more optimistic in his view of infants as “pure” or basically moral and only subsequently corrupted by society, whereas most philosophers and theorists have held darker views of the clay from which personhood is molded. Thus, it has been more common to view infants as full of seething, vicious drives that are insensitive to others and potentially destructive (Freud, 1905/1953; 1935/1960; 1940/1964; Hobbes, 1651/1968), or at the very least untrammeled and in need of regulation, first from others but subsequently from the self.

The focus of this chapter, consistent with the focus of the entire book, is on the strategic control of emotion and the mechanisms by which such control may be established. Given the importance of understanding factors that influence the effective or ineffective regulation of emotion, one may ask whether there are any “paths” to regulation: constituent or contributory processes, abilities, motives, experiences, or characteristics that help determine the capability for affect regulation, the accomplishment of such regulation, or the failure to regulate accurately or effectively (dysregulation). Such paths might best be construed as conceptual groupings of factors that form a sequence of precursors for effective or ineffective regulation.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×