Self-distancing is associated with adaptive emotion regulation (ER), thereby making it a common treatment target across psychotherapies. However, less is known about cognitive processes that facilitate self-distancing. Working memory capacity (WMC) has been associated with self-distancing and ER, although research has not directly examined WMC and spontaneous self-distancing activity. Here, we tested the association between WMC and self-distancing (indexed by pronoun use) in relation to ER during a negative-mood induction in college students (N = 209). Results suggested a mediation model: Higher WMC predicted lower I and greater we pronouns (i.e., greater self-distancing), which in turn predicted lower negative affect. Furthermore, higher WMC predicted greater we pronouns, which predicted higher positive affect. No significant mediation was observed for you. These findings enrich current theoretical models describing WMC and self-distancing in ER and suggest important future research to further elucidate the cognitive processes underlying self-distancing with implications for clinical practice.

中文翻译：

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自发性自我距离调节工作记忆容量与情绪调节成功之间的关联

自我隔离与适应性情绪调节 (ER) 相关，从而使其成为跨心理治疗的常见治疗目标。然而，人们对促进自我疏远的认知过程知之甚少。工作记忆容量 (WMC) 与自我疏远和 ER 相关联，尽管研究尚未直接检查 WMC 和自发的自我疏远活动。在这里，我们测试了大学生（N = 209）在消极情绪诱导期间 WMC 与自我距离（通过代词使用索引）与 ER 之间的关联。结果表明了一个中介模型：较高的 WMC 预测较低的 I 和较大的我们代词（即更大的自我距离），这反过来预测较低的负面影响。此外，更高的 WMC 预测更大的我们代词，这预测了更高的积极影响。没有观察到您的显着中介。这些发现丰富了当前描述 WMC 和 ER 中自我隔离的理论模型，并提出了重要的未来研究，以进一步阐明自我隔离背后的认知过程，并对临床实践产生影响。