Believing in Change Matters! The Role of Emotion Malleability Beliefs in Emotion Regulation and Paranoid Ideation

Abstract

Abstract Purpose Beliefs that emotions can be changed (i.e., malleability beliefs) are relevant to emotion regulation. Emotion regulation plays a crucial role in severe mental health symptoms, such as paranoid delusions, but it remains unknown to which extent malleability beliefs contribute to a dysfunctional pattern of emotion regulation in individuals experiencing paranoid ideation. Therefore, we investigated whether malleability beliefs are associated with paranoid ideation and whether emotion regulation accounts for this association. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional assessment in a sample of individuals with psychotic disorders (n = 50) and a community sample (n = 218) and collected self-report data on malleability beliefs, the use of emotion regulation strategies (reappraisal, acceptance, rumination, expressive suppression, experience suppression), and paranoid ideation. Results Multivariate regressions showed that greater beliefs that emotions are malleable predicted more reappraisal and acceptance in both samples and less rumination in the community sample. Malleability beliefs did not predict the strategies of suppressing an emotion or its expression. In the community sample, but not in the clinical sample, greater beliefs that emotions are malleable were associated with less frequent paranoid ideation and emotion regulation accounted for significant variance in the relationship. Conclusions The findings indicate that malleability beliefs do not contribute to paranoid delusions in individuals with psychotic disorders. However, in individuals with subclinical paranoid ideation, a failure to perceive emotions as malleable could hinder adaptive attempts to regulate emotions leading to increased negative affect and thereby pave the way for paranoid ideation. Malleability beliefs may thus represent a promising target for prevention.