What is Suppression (emotion regulation)?
Suppression in emotion regulation is the deliberate inhibition of emotion-expressive behavior while the emotion is being experienced. It hides the external signs of emotion without changing the internal experience.
How it works
Gross’s research shows that suppression is less effective than reappraisal: it reduces outward expression but does not reduce (and may increase) the subjective experience of negative emotion. Suppression also has cognitive costs: it consumes working memory resources, impairing concurrent task performance and memory formation. Socially, chronic suppression reduces social connection because others perceive suppressors as less authentic and less warm.
Applied example
A person who receives devastating news at work and maintains a calm demeanor throughout the day is suppressing. They appear fine externally but are experiencing the full force of the emotion internally, consuming cognitive resources that would otherwise be available for work, and feeling increasingly exhausted by the effort of hiding their distress.
Why it matters
Suppression illustrates that not all emotion regulation is equally effective: hiding emotions is psychologically costly and socially distancing, making it a last resort rather than a default strategy.
