Final answer:
Emotional regulation is the ability to manage one's emotional experiences and is referred to as effortful control, which is a conscious process. It is critical for self-regulation, allowing for flexible responses to environmental stimuli and is a key part of personal and social competence.
Step-by-step explanation:
Emotional regulation involves the ability to manage and respond to an emotional experience in a socially appropriate and flexible way. It requires practice, maturation, and work; hence it is referred to as effortful control. This concept is part of developmental psychology and is often studied in relation to temperament and personality. An example of effortful control would be speaking in public even if you do not enjoy it, as you regulate your emotions to perform the task. In contrast to automatic emotion regulation (AER), which happens without deliberate thought, effortful control is a conscious process. It plays a crucial role in self-regulation, a component of our personality that reflects our ability to control our responses to environmental stimuli.
In this context, self-regulation includes the ability to modulate reactivity, which is how we respond to new or challenging environmental stimuli. Efficient self-regulation requires using various coping strategies, which can be problem-focused or emotion-focused. These strategies contribute to the development of personal and social competence, thus highlighting the importance of effortful control as a key component of emotional and psychological well-being.