Digital Emotion Regulation in Everyday Life

Wally Smith, Greg Wadley, Sarah Webber, Benjamin Tag, Vassilis Kostakos, Peter Koval, James J. Gross
2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems  
Two decades of focus on User Experience has yielded an array of digital technologies that help people experience, understand and share emotions. Although the effects of specific technologies upon emotion have been well studied, less is known about how people actively appropriate and combine the full range of devices, apps and services at their disposal to deliberately manage emotions in everyday life. We conducted a one-week diary study in which 23 adults recorded interactions between their
more » ... ions and technology use. They reported using a diverse range of emotion-shaping tools and strategies as part of coping with daily challenges, managing routines, and pursuing work and social goals. We analyse these data in the light of psychological theories of emotion. Our findings point to the significance of digital emotion regulation as a powerful perspective to inform wider debates about the impacts of technology on social and emotional well-being.
doi:10.1145/3491102.3517573 fatcat:shgutv3gdvg6jjzrdq2xawrq5e