The interventional advantage of interpersonal emotion regulation in vicariously learned fear: Evidence from behavioral and event-related potential studies

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1041.2026.1990

Abstract

HUANG Yong, WANG Haolan, YANG Jiemin, LI Yaqin, GAO Wei, YUAN Jiajin. (2026). The interventional advantage of interpersonal emotion regulation in vicariously learned fear: Evidence from behavioral and event-related potential studies. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 58(10), 1990-2007.

Figures/Tables 17

Figure 1. Experimental procedure and the demonstrator's expressions. (a) The demonstrator's expression when receiving an electric shock. (b) The demonstrator's expression when not receiving an electric shock. (c) Experimental procedure of experiment 1.

Figure 2. Experimental procedure of experiment 2.

Figure 3. Results of Experiment 1. (a), (b), and (c) correspond to participants' scores of threat perception, number of avoidances, and shock expectancy, respectively, and the between-group differences. *** p < 0.001, ** p < 0.01, * p < 0.05; bar: SE, same below.

Table 1 Threat Perception Score in Experiment 1 (M ± SD)

	Learning		Regulation
	CS+	CS－	CS+	CS－
No	7.90 ± 0.88	1.50 ± 0.90	7.10 ± 1.83	1.67 ± 0.96
Self	7.83 ± 1.23	1.57 ± 0.94	4.77 ± 2.37	1.33 ± 0.55
Interpersonal	8.00 ± 1.17	1.67 ± 0.96	3.00 ± 1.74	2.17 ± 1.51

Table 2 Number of Avoidances in Experiment 1 (M ± SD)

	Learning		Regulation
	CS+	CS－	CS+	CS－
No	6.07 ± 1.68	0.33 ± 0.80	5.83 ± 2.07	0.30 ± 0.70
Self	5.77 ± 2.05	0.10 ± 0.31	3.40 ± 2.92	0.20 ± 0.92
Interpersonal	6.57 ± 1.04	0.53 ± 0.97	3.33 ± 2.76	0.53 ± 0.94

Table 3 Shock Expectancy in Experiment 1 (M ± SD)

	CS+	CS－
No	6.92 ± 2.11	1.70 ± 1.17
Self	4.12 ± 2.87	1.20 ± 0.41
Interpersonal	2.60 ± 1.80	1.93 ± 1.17

Figure 4. Behavioral results of Experiment 2. (a), (b), (c), and (d) correspond to participants' scores of threat perception, shock expectancy, emotion-coping difficulty, and number of avoidances, respectively, and the between-group differences.

Table 4 Threat Perception Score in Experiment 2 (M ± SD)

	Observation		Regulation
	CS+	CS－	CS+	CS－
Self	5.48 ± 2.39	1.22 ± 0.52	3.00 ± 1.98	1.26 ± 0.54
Interpersonal	6.30 ±1.49	1.48 ± 0.67	1.30 ± 0.88	1.70 ± 1.18

Table 5 Shock Expectancy in Experiment 2 (M ± SD)

	Observation		Regulation
	CS+	CS－	CS+	CS－
Self	5.04 ± 2.05	1.90 ± 1.09	3.57 ± 2.19	1.40 ± 0.67
Interpersonal	6.03 ± 1.69	1.87 ± 1.26	1.97 ± 0.96	1.46 ± 0.80

Table 6 Emotion-coping Difficulty in Experiment 2 (M ± SD)

	Observation		Regulation
	CS+	CS－	CS+	CS－
Self	4.77 ± 2.19	2.48 ± 1.75	2.86 ± 1.25	1.65 ± 1.04
Interpersonal	4.53 ± 1.29	2.04 ± 1.06	1.73 ± 0.53	1.33 ± 0.40

Table 7 Number of Avoidances in Experiment 2 (M ± SD)

	CS+	CS－
Self	12.83 ± 13.05	2.09 ± 6.05
Interpersonal	6.65 ± 9.69	1.13 ± 3.40

Figure 5. LPP amplitudes and topographic maps in the centroparietal region for the two groups during the viewing and regulation stages. Amplitudes were averaged across CPz, Cz, and Pz, with a time window of 400-700 ms. The x-axis starts at 200 ms before stimulus onset (baseline) and ends at 800 ms after stimulus onset. (a) LPP waveforms and topographic maps for the self-regulation group. (b) LPP waveforms and topographic maps for the interpersonal regulation group.

Table 8 LPP Amplitudes in Experiment 2 (M ± SD)

	Observation		Regulation
	CS+	CS－	CS+	CS－
Self	3.35 ± 3.44	2.79 ± 4.95	2.18 ± 3.00	1.69 ± 3.81
Interpersonal	2.04 ± 2.36	2.87 ± 2.84	0.43 ± 3.03	2.48 ± 3.51

Figure 6. Central P2 and parietal P3 amplitudes and topographic maps for the two groups. The P2 amplitude (180-260 ms) was the average of electrodes C1, C2, and Cz; the P3 amplitude (350-500 ms) was the average of electrodes P1, P2, and Pz. The x-axis starts at 200 ms before stimulus onset (baseline) and ends at 800 ms after stimulus onset. (a) P2 waveforms and topographic maps. (b) P3 waveforms and topographic maps.

Table 9 P2 Amplitudes in Experiment 2 (M ± SD)

	CS+	CS－
Self	3.62 ± 2.59	2.48 ± 2.72
Interpersonal	1.94 ± 2.96	2.54 ± 3.39

Table 10 P3 Amplitudes in Experiment 2 (M ± SD)

	CS+	CS－
Self	3.47 ± 3.79	2.40 ± 3.71
Interpersonal	1.46 ± 2.81	2.22 ± 2.94

Figure 7. Scatter plots of behavior-EEG correlations. (a) Positive correlation between P3 amplitude during the test phase and emotion-coping difficulty during the regulation phase. (b) Positive correlation between LPP amplitude during the viewing phase and shock expectancy. (c) Positive correlation between LPP amplitude during the regulation phase and shock expectancy.