Teachers who use cognitive reappraisal to manage their emotions are more forgiving of others

Given that both effectively managing one’s emotions and maintaining healthy relationships is of particular importance to those in the teaching profession, the present study examined the association between teachers’ emotion regulation strategies and their tendency to forgive others. Data from 516 Kindergarten-12th grade teachers were analyzed to address the following research questions: RQ 1 ) Is teachers’ use of cognitive reappraisal associated with their tendency to forgive? And RQ 2 ) Is teachers’ use of expressive suppression associated with their tendency to forgive? Teachers’ use of cognitive reappraisal positively predicted their tendency to forgive others, while expressive suppression was not associated with teachers’ tendency to forgive. This line of inquiry expands the field’s understanding of adult social and emotional learning by investigating the association between key social and emotional competencies in teachers, providing insight into the skills underlying teachers’ conflict management strategies. Results from the present study suggest that teachers’ use of cognitive reappraisal, a healthy emotion regulation strategy, predicts teachers’ dispositional forgiveness towards others, and provide initial evidence that teachers’ emotional competencies may predict their social competencies. These results expand the field’s understanding of the interplay between adults’ social and emotional competencies and further the field’s understanding of the contributors to teachers’ social and emotional learning.