Abstract
The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of emotion regulation strategies (i.e., cognitive reappraisal and suppression) on driving anger expressions. The moderating role of gender in emotion regulation strategies- driving anger expressions associations was also investigated. The sample of this study consisted of 325 participants (132 females, 193 males) aged between 18-63 years, who had a driving license and had been actively driving for at least one year. Emotion Regulation Questionnaire and Driver Anger Expression Inventory were used in the study. The results showed that cognitive reappraisal predicted adaptive/constructive expression positively, while suppression predicted it negatively. The moderating role of gender in the relationship between cognitive reappraisal and total aggressive expression index was marginally significant. Despite being insignificant, there was a tendency that as cognitive reappraisal increases, total aggressive expression index decreases in only women. In addition, there was a tendency for the moderating effect of gender in the relationship between suppression and total aggressive expression index. In male drivers, suppression positively predicted total aggressive expression index (verbal, body, vehicle expression), but not in female drivers. The strengths, limitations and contributions of the research are discussed in the light of the relevant literature.
Keywords: Emotion regulation, cognitive reappraisal, suppression, drive anger expressions.