Vulnerable Buoyancy: A New View on Emotional Regulation Under Uncertainty

Abstract

Stress is often accompanied by high uncertainty, which makes it difficult or ineffective to make the right decisions. Affective-personal regulation of the decision-making process has been poorly studied to date, and the variables characterizing different aspects of emotional regulation have not been presented in a single complex of their interactions in relation to human uncertainty. In multiple decision-making regulation, the relevant variables can interact with each other, which can be reflected in the effectiveness of problem solving or decision-making. The aim of the article was to develop a model that links the variables of empathy (cognitive and affective), subclinical narcissism and tolerance for uncertainty with latent factors of Self-efficacy of human decisions and Vulnerable buoyancy. Vulnerable buoyancy is a new concept that allows us to consider emotional regulation under conditions of uncertainty not as stability, but rather as a dynamic system of self-regulation that positively determines the effectiveness of decision-making. The Dirty Dozen, Questionnaire of Cognitive and Affective Empathy, The Subjective Risk Intelligence Scale, and The New Tolerance-intolerance to Uncertainty Questionnaire were used on a sample of n = 446. A correlation analysis was carried out and a structural model was built, which allowed: to substantiate the selection of an integrative latent variable Vulnerable buoyancy; to take a fresh approach to the relationship of narcissism with other variables of the emotional-personal sphere, which, according to the literature, are quite contradictory; to demonstrate the different roles of affective and cognitive empathy, manifesting Self-efficacy in problem solving (cognitive empathy) and Vulnerable buoyancy (affective empathy).