Emotion regulation among young Indian women: The role of accessing happy memories

Pages:348-354
Edward Hoffman (Yeshiva University, New York, New York)
Garima Srivastava (Lady Shri Ram College for Women, New Delhi)
Fernando A. Ortiz (Director of Counseling Services Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington)
Maria Paula Fonseca (University of Maryland-Baltimore County, Baltimore, Maryland)

Although emotion regulation has gained attention in positive psychology, research among Indians has been scant. In this study, 150 women at a university in Delhi responded to a survey. It asked their frequency of deliberately recalling a happy memory as a strategy to influence mood, when they were most likely to initiate this strategy, their extent of social engagement while doing so, and the particular type of memory they recalled. Participants were also asked how much this strategy improved their mood and reduced stress. Finally, they were asked to rate themselves on overall health, amount of recent stress, coping ability with stress, and life satisfaction. Frequency of accessing a happy memory related significantly to both mood uplift and stress reduction after recall, and life satisfaction. Intriguingly, the tendency to engage in this strategy while socializing was negatively correlated with life satisfaction and self-reported health. Future avenues of research were suggested.