Extrinsic Emotion Regulation Motives in Dyads of Friends

Due to the central role friendships play in young adulthood, it is crucial to understand factors that help foster high-quality bonds. The present study examined associations between extrinsic emotion regulation motives and relationship quality in friendship dyads. A sample of 105 young adult dyads (N = 210; M_age = 19.5 years, SD_age = 1.2 years) completed a survey assessing their motives for engaging in extrinsic emotion regulation with each other and the constructive and destructive behaviors in their friendship. Actor–partner interdependence models indicated motivation to help a friend regulate for prohedonic, relationship maintenance, or emotional similarity reasons predicted more constructive behaviors, whereas contrahedonic motives predicted more destructive behaviors. These effects held from the perspective of the regulator but not the target of the regulation, highlighting the value of dyadic approaches for future work.