Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Regulation of Positive Affect: The Moderating Effects of Stressor Intensity and Perceived Controllability

Abstract The association between positive affect regulation and well-being has often been examined at the intrapersonal level, but positive affect regulation may also occur at the interpersonal level and be shaped by contextual factors. Thus, positive affect regulation strategies, including savoring and dampening, were examined in relation to well-being (i.e. positive affect and life satisfaction) at the intra- and inter-personal levels, while also considering the moderating effects of stressor intensity and perceived controllability. Participants included 281 emerging adults ( M age = 21.29; 71% female-identifying), who responded to a 14-day daily diary. Multilevel analyses indicated that individuals reported lower well-being on days when they engaged more in dampening, but greater well-being on days when they engaged more in emotion-focused and self-focused positive rumination. Co-savoring was also positively associated with well-being, but co-dampening was not. Perceived controllability, but not stressor intensity, moderated the associations of dampening, self-focused positive rumination, and co-savoring with life satisfaction. These findings suggest that regulating positive affect independently and with social others has implications for well-being, and that contextual factors also matter.