UC Berkeley

Successful emotion regulation often requires effort. Yet, it is unclear what factors drive the investment of effort in emotion regulation and for whom. In a controlled experiment with healthy individuals (N = 63) and a 10-day Ecological Momentary Assessment study involving both healthy and clinically depressed individuals (N = 184), we tested whether investment of effort in emotion regulation depends on the perceived desirability (i.e., value attributed to the goal) and attainability (i.e., expectancy that the goal can be achieved) of emotion regulation goals, and whether goal desirability and attainability are shaped by emotional intensity. Findings supported our key hypotheses. First, more intense unpleasant emotions rendered the emotion regulation goal of decreasing unpleasant emotions more desirable but also less attainable. Second, both goal desirability and attainability predicted effort in emotion regulation, with desirability being a stronger predictor. Third, desirability and attainability interacted, such that attainability more strongly predicted effort when desirability was higher (vs. lower). Fourth, whereas these patterns were found among healthy individuals, they differed among clinically depressed individuals. Specifically, healthy individuals calibrated their investment of emotion-regulatory effort based on evaluations of the desirability and attainability of emotion regulation goals-both of which were sensitive to the intensity of their unpleasant emotions. In contrast, depressed individuals did not show the same calibration, potentially reflecting suboptimal allocation of emotion regulation resources in depression. Together, these findings show when people are likely to invest more effort in emotion regulation and how this differs in healthy individuals and those suffering from depression. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).