Emotion Regulation as Action: How Reappraisal and Acceptance Shape Cognition

Emotion regulation strategies are typically studied for how they change emotionalexperience, yet their downstream effects on cognition and action remain lessunderstood. We propose that reappraisal and acceptance diverge not only in theiremotional consequences but also in how they orient the mind toward action. Acrosstwo studies, college students watched sad film clips and were instructed to regulateusing reappraisal, acceptance, or no strategy before completing choice-reachingversions of Attention Network Task and Stroop. This design allowed us to capturemovement-based indices of action readiness, including response time and idle time,alongside fine-grained trajectory measures. Consistent with predictions from actioncontroltheory, reappraisal reliably shortened responses and idle periods, reflecting aproactive, goal-directed state of cognitive–motor readiness, even after accounting foremotional change and regulation perceptions. Acceptance, in comparison, yieldedslower responses and longer idle periods, consistent with a still, present-focused modeless oriented toward immediate goal pursuit. These patterns were strongest on theAttention Network Task and weaker, though still detectable, on a novel reaching-basedStroop paradigm. Together, the findings demonstrate that reappraisal and acceptanceleave measurable imprints on movement during cognitive performance, reframingemotion regulation not only as managing feelings but also as shaping themomentum—or stillness—of action.