Individuals differ in how much they notice and value their emotions, a trait called attention to emotion. But do individual differences in attention to one's own emotions relate to the way we perceive emotional intensity and emotional genuineness in other people's faces? Although previous research suggests that individuals higher in attention to emotion may either (a) differentiate emotion cues more precisely or (b) overemphasize the presence of emotion cues, my research did not find that attention to emotion significantly related to either differentiated or overemphasized ratings of emotional intensity and genuineness.

In future research, I am interested in examining the social and personal implications of holding unfavorable beliefs about emotion. Indeed, some individuals believe that emotions are useless, which may hinder their ability to regulate emotions when they do arise. My work aims to uncover how emotion beliefs shape the outcomes of interpersonal emotion regulation strategies (e.g., talking about feelings with others) to better understand how these individuals can maximize their emotional well-being.