Emotional Suppression Neuroimaging Measures

Individual difference measures were administered before fMRI scanning. The primary measure of interest was the suppression scale of the ERQ (Gross and John, 2003 (link)). This scale consists of four items designed to assess individual differences in suppression use (e.g., “I control my emotions by not expressing them”). This scale previously has been shown to have good internal consistency and test-retest reliability and to be independent of intelligence and socioeconomic status (Gross and John, 2003 (link)). Suppression was normally distributed according to the Shapiro–Wilk test (p > 0.05). Control measures were also administered including: (1) the Chinese-version of 48-item Neuroticism questionnaire of the NEO Five Factor Personality Inventory (Costa and MacCrae, 1992 ), which assesses an individual’s tendency to experience psychological distress; (2) the trait version of the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI trait version; Spielberger, 1970 ), which assesses relatively stable individual differences in anxiety proneness; and (3) the reappraisal scale of the ERQ, which assesses use of cognitive reappraisal in everyday life.