Enhancing workplace well-being through reappraisal in a nationwide field experiment

There is an urgent need for scalable mental health interventions, particularly for workers in under-resourced settings who experience high stress and limited access to mental health resources. One promising approach is enhancing workers’ emotion regulation skills. Although previous literature suggests promise, the long-term effectiveness of this approach is unknown. The present study evaluated a scalable intervention that taught reappraisal—an emotion regulation strategy that alters how individuals interpret challenging situations. We tested this intervention nationwide among low- and middle-income workers (e.g., drivers, teachers, food service workers) in early education, one of the most stressful and under-resourced sectors in the United States. Study 1 (n = 1,967), a pre-registered field survey, found positive correlations among reappraisal use, emotional well-being, and job performance. Study 2, a pre-registered longitudinal field experiment (n = 4,054), found lasting improvements in some emotional well-being and workplace outcomes (e.g., job performance, quit intentions, and impatient decision-making) from the reappraisal intervention (vs. active control) six months later. These studies provide the first evidence of reappraisal’s durable effects over time in the workplace, establishing it as a scalable and enduring strategy for improving worker well-being and performance across diverse occupational settings.