Research paper · RP18

Reappraisal on the Clock

Webb and colleagues pooled laboratory reappraisal in 2012. Nobody has pooled workplace training trials of the same skill. This review asked whether reappraisal or cognitive-restructuring training delivered to employees reduces stress and improves performance ratings. Four strict workplace reappraisal-training trials met eligibility (three between-person randomised trials and one micro-randomised trial). That is one short of the pre-specified minimum of five comparable trials, so a random-effects meta-analysis was not performed. Effects were synthesised narratively. The largest trial, a pre-registered United States field experiment with 4,054 early-education and family-service workers, found a small reduction in stress six months after a brief online reappraisal session versus an active control (d = −0.13, 95% CI −0.21 to −0.05) and higher self-rated job performance. A between-person ecological-momentary trial (n = 176) found that twice-daily reappraisal prompts reduced negative affect, raised positive affect, and improved self-rated performance through positive affect, with no fade-out at one month. A companion micro-randomised trial (n = 94) raised positive affect but did not cut negative affect. A finance-sector mindset workshop improved self-rated interpersonal performance at four weeks against a waitlist. Adjacent cognitive-restructuring programmes produced small self-rated performance gains (one Japanese trial, d = 0.31). Every extractable performance outcome was self-rated. No supervisor-rated performance trial was found. No eligible Indian employee trial was found. Certainty is low for stress and very low for performance. The skill looks transferable. The evidence is not yet poolable. Indian workplaces still lack a dedicated trial.