Emotion Regulation and Performance in High-Stakes Contexts: The Role of Strategy Use, Flexibility, Mental Fatigue, and Stress

Emotion regulation (ER)—how people manage their emotions—is crucial for mental health and performance in high-stakes contexts, such as defence and first-responder roles. This thesis examined ER across three studies, revealing variability in ER measurement in military samples and suggesting associations between ER and job performance. The strategies people use, and how flexibly they apply them, relate to mental fatigue, stress, and burnout over short and longer timeframes, with some disengagement strategies linked to poorer outcomes. Reducing the use of such strategies and assessing ER strategy effectiveness is essential for mental health and performance across timeframes in high-stakes contexts.