Which emotion regulation strategy to use in arachnophobia : An fMRI study

Arachnophobia can interfere significantly with one’s daily routine. Research on emotion regulation tends to use techniques that are only applicable in the laboratory. This study aims at comparing different regulation strategies that could be used by phobics in daily life. Amongst others, it investigates the impact of language areas in emotion regulation. Sixteen participants interviewed for arachnophobia and sixteen controls were instructed to the use of three strategies (verbalization, visualization and feeling). For verbalization, participants had to mentally describe all the elements that made the situation harmless/harmful. Concerning visualization, participants were imagining the animal withdrawing/coming closer..