Conceptual limitations in emotion regulation self-report scales

In this paper, we provide a brief survey of the history of the concepts of emotion and emotion regulation and compare two of the leading scales of emotion regulation—the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS). Our purpose is to determine where there might be room for improved conceptual clarity in the study of emotion regulation research today. We conclude by suggesting that the conceptual difficulties within and between these scales are symptomatic of a deeper problem in psychological research, that of reductionism, and suggest a nonreductive read of the concepts in question.