There are a variety of beliefs people can hold about emotions (eg, beliefs that emotions are
malleable, beliefs that emotions last forever). In addition, some people's beliefs may
fluctuate—their beliefs might change during an emotional event (ie, belief instability). In two
studies, we explored a variety of beliefs about emotion and perceptions of belief instability
alongside symptoms of psychopathology, trait-based emotional skills (Study 1, n= 359) and
behavioral emotion regulation strategies (Study 2, n= 725). In both studies, individual …

The beliefs people hold about emotion are clearly relevant for emotional processes,
although the social psychological research on malleability or “lay” beliefs about emotion are
rarely integrated with the clinical research on emotional schemas. In the current study, we
examine a variety of beliefs about emotion (eg, beliefs that emotions can be changed,
beliefs that negative emotions are bad, beliefs that emotions should not be expressed,
beliefs that emotions control behavior, beliefs that emotions last “forever”) along with other …