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HYPOTHESIS AND THEORY article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1419202
This article is part of the Research Topic Emotional Regulation and Human Flourishing: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives View all 3 articles

Emotional Self-Regulation and Personality in the Light of Thomas Aquinas's Philosophical Anthropology

Provisionally accepted
Juan P. Rojas-Saffie Juan P. Rojas-Saffie 1*Nicolás García-Matte Nicolás García-Matte 1,2
  • 1 Research Center in Psychology, Education and Family, Finis Terrae University, Santiago, Chile
  • 2 Millennium Institute for Depression and Personality Research (MIDAP), Santiago, Chile

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This article aims to thoroughly understand the concept of emotional self-regulation (ESR) and its relationship with personality. Through an interdisciplinary dialogue between psychology and philosophy —specifically, the anthropology of Thomas Aquinas— three realities are proposed that could be considered as ESR. The conceptual relationship between ESR —understood as operation, faculty and habit— and personality is examined, specifically using the Five-Factor Model and the virtues model. Key findings include the need for consensus on a precise definition of ESR, the central role of reason as a faculty capable of ruling over emotions, the relevance of the distinction between ESR and self-control, and the understanding of ESR as a set of habits that include aspects of prudence, temperance and fortitude. Interdisciplinary dialogue seems to be a valuable intellectual approach to the advancement of the field of psychology.

    Keywords: Emotions, affectivity, Self-regulation, Five-Factor Model, Virtues, Thomistic anthropology, Integral Psychology of the Person

    Received: 17 Apr 2024; Accepted: 06 May 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Rojas-Saffie and García-Matte. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Juan P. Rojas-Saffie, Research Center in Psychology, Education and Family, Finis Terrae University, Santiago, Chile

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