It has been reported that verbalization of emotions (or affect labeling) leads to unintentional emotion regulation. However, the labeling approach (chosen or self-generated) or target (one’s own feelings or the stimulus itself) are not uniform. In previous studies using the self-generated type, the labeling target was only one’s own feelings. In response, in Experiment 1, participants performed affect labeling on the stimulus itself (the stimuli used in this study being positive and neutral images) and subsequently rated their subjective feelings. In Experiment 2, the influence of the labeling target in the self-generated type was examined. Participants performed affect labeling either on the stimulus itself or their own emotions, and subjective feelings as well as pupil diameter were measured. The results suggest that self-generated affect labeling of one’s own feelings or the stimulus itself increases subjective feelings compared to simply viewing the image. In the neutral image condition, pupil diameter dilation was suppressed when the stimulus itself was labeled compared to one’s own feelings. This implies that labeling the stimulus itself to the target may be effective in suppressing immediate emotional responses.

Zero-sum belief is the belief that someoneʼs gains are anotherʼs losses. Assuming that beneficiariesʼ zero-sum beliefs let them perceive benefactorsʼ cost resulting from giving benefits, this study examined whether the zero-sum belief increases the occurrences of grateful feelings and expression in apologetic form, which is represented by "sumimasen" in Japanese. We manipulated participantsʼ zero-sum beliefs and rewarded them for the task. Thereafter, we asked participants what they wanted to say, how they felt, and how much they perceived our (i.e., benefactorsʼ) cost. The results revealed that participants whose zero-sum beliefs were experimentally strengthened were inclined to select the grateful expression in apologetic form from some options to convey what they wanted to say, though grateful feelings in apologetic form and perceived costs were not significantly affected. These results suggested the possibility that individualsʼ zero-sum beliefs let them express their gratitude in apologetic form independently from the extent to which they have such feelings or perceive benefactorsʼ cost.

目 的 道徳不活性化(moral disengagement)とは道徳基準を内在 化している人々が不道徳な行動をしてしまうことを説明する 道徳的自己制御の抑制メカニズムを指す(Bandura, 1996; 吉 澤, 2015)。 この道徳不活性化は不道徳な行為による影響の否 定や被害者を道徳的考慮から除外するなどの認知の歪みから 行為の不道徳性に関する認識を弱める。それにより，不道徳 な行為に対する罪悪感などのネガティブ感情が抑えられ，行 為の実行がしやすくなる