Staff profile

Sarah Walker is an Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology at Durham University and a Fellow of the Wolfson Research Institute. My research centres on emotion regulation -how we manage our own emotions (intrapersonal regulation) and how we influence the emotions of others (interpersonal regulation), and how these processes shape learning, motivation, and the quality of our relationships.

Much of my current work focuses on interpersonal or extrinsic emotion regulation- what people do to influence another person’s emotions, why they do it, and when those attempts help, harm, or fall flat. I’m especially interested in how these processes unfold in everyday, high-stakes settings such as within educational contexts, romantic partnerships, and emotionally demanding professional roles. I'm also increasingly interested in the opportunities and limitations of artificial intelligence (AI) as a tool for understanding, supporting, and even training emotion regulation in both human and hybrid (human–AI) interactions.

Beyond emotion regulation, I study how self- and informant-report measures diverge in assessing personality and emotion-related traits. I’ve explored the effects of response bias, self-knowledge limitations, and social perception across traits like the Dark Triad, the Big Five, and emotional intelligence. Some of this work examines how and when people deliberately manage impressions including the potential for ‘faking’ on self-report personality measures.

Supervision and PhD Opportunities

I supervise doctoral students working on emotion, motivation, social relationships, personality, and applied psychological questions, particularly in educational and relational contexts. I'm especially interested in how we regulate others’ emotions - how these attempts shift across contexts, what motivates them, how confident we feel doing them (or not), and how they shape interpersonal outcomes.

I welcome students interested in the dynamic, flexible nature of interpersonal emotion regulation. What people do, how they adapt, and why they engage in the first place. I'm also actively developing work on the role of AI in emotion regulation, including its use as a training tool and its limitations as a regulator. There’s huge potential for projects exploring human–AI emotional interaction, emotion coaching, and digital tools for enhancing regulation.

If you're curious about how emotion plays out between people, and how we might understand, support, or train these processes, I’d be glad to hear from you.

 

Journal Article

• You Feel Better When Your Partner is Emotionally Intelligent: Self-Rated Emotional Intelligence Shows Partner Effects on Subjective Wellbeing
  
  Double, K. S., Xiao, H., Pinkus, R. T., Walker, S. A., & MacCann, C. (2025). You Feel Better When Your Partner is Emotionally Intelligent: Self-Rated Emotional Intelligence Shows Partner Effects on Subjective Wellbeing. Journal of Happiness Studies, 26(5). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-025-00914-3
• What do we do to help others feel better? The eight strategies of the Regulating Others' Emotions Scale (ROES)
  
  MacCann, C., Double, K. S., Olderbak, S., Austin, E. J., Pinkus, R. T., Walker, S. A., Kunst, H., & Niven, K. (2025). What do we do to help others feel better? The eight strategies of the Regulating Others’ Emotions Scale (ROES). Emotion, 25(2), 410-429. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0001459
• The Need for a Unified Language Framework in Extrinsic Interpersonal Emotion Regulation Research
  
  Walker, S., López-Pérez, B., Beckmann, J. F., Kunst, H., & Polias, S. (2024). The Need for a Unified Language Framework in Extrinsic Interpersonal Emotion Regulation Research. Emotion. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0001463
• Faking good and bad on self‐reports versus informant‐reports of Dark Triad personality
  
  Walker, S., & MacCann, C. (2024). Faking good and bad on self‐reports versus informant‐reports of Dark Triad personality. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 32(3), 329-342. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijsa.12465
• It’s What I Think You Do That Matters: Comparing Self, Partner, and Shared Perspectives of What a Romantic Partner Does to Regulate Your Emotions
  
  Walker, S. A., Pinkus, R., Double, K. S., Xiao, H., & MacCann, C. (2024). It’s What I Think You Do That Matters: Comparing Self, Partner, and Shared Perspectives of What a Romantic Partner Does to Regulate Your Emotions. European Journal of Personality. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/08902070241272162
• Faking Good on Self-Reports Versus Informant-Reports of Emotional Intelligence
  
  Walker, S. A., & MacCann, C. (2024). Faking Good on Self-Reports Versus Informant-Reports of Emotional Intelligence. Assessment, 31(5), 1011-1019. https://doi.org/10.1177/10731911231203960
• People with higher relationship satisfaction use more humor, valuing, and receptive listening to regulate their partners’ emotions
  
  Walker, S. A., Pinkus, R. T., Olderbak, S., & MacCann, C. (2024). People with higher relationship satisfaction use more humor, valuing, and receptive listening to regulate their partners’ emotions. Current Psychology, 43(3), 2348-2356. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-04432-4
• The Dark Informant-Rated Triad (DIRT): A Concise Informant-Rated Measure of the Dark Triad
  
  Walker, S. A., MacCann, C., & Jonason, P. K. (2023). The Dark Informant-Rated Triad (DIRT): A Concise Informant-Rated Measure of the Dark Triad. European Journal of Psychological Assessment. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000796
• Emotionally Intelligent People Use More High-Engagement and Less Low-Engagement Processes to Regulate Others’ Emotions
  
  Xiao, H., Double, K. S., Walker, S. A., Kunst, H., & MacCann, C. (2022). Emotionally Intelligent People Use More High-Engagement and Less Low-Engagement Processes to Regulate Others’ Emotions. Journal of Intelligence, 10(4), Article 76. https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence10040076
• Cognition-oriented treatments for older adults: A systematic review of the influence of depression and self-efficacy individual differences factors
  
  Webb, S. L., Birney, D. P., Loh, V., Walker, S., Lampit, A., & Bahar-Fuchs, A. (2022). Cognition-oriented treatments for older adults: A systematic review of the influence of depression and self-efficacy individual differences factors. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 32(6), 1193-1229. https://doi.org/10.1080/09602011.2020.1869567
• How much can people fake on the dark triad? A meta-analysis and systematic review of instructed faking
  
  Walker, S. A., Double, K. S., Birney, D. P., & MacCann, C. (2022). How much can people fake on the dark triad? A meta-analysis and systematic review of instructed faking. Personality and Individual Differences, 193, Article 111622. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2022.111622
• Primary and secondary psychopathy relate to lower cognitive reappraisal: A meta-analysis of the Dark Triad and emotion regulation processes
  
  Walker, S. A., Olderbak, S., Gorodezki, J., Zhang, M., Ho, C., & MacCann, C. (2022). Primary and secondary psychopathy relate to lower cognitive reappraisal: A meta-analysis of the Dark Triad and emotion regulation processes. Personality and Individual Differences, 187, Article 111394. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.111394
• Emotional intelligence and attachment in adulthood: A meta-analysis
  
  Walker, S. A., Double, K. S., Kunst, H., Zhang, M., & MacCann, C. (2022). Emotional intelligence and attachment in adulthood: A meta-analysis. Personality and Individual Differences, 184, Article 111174. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.111174
• Adult memory for specific instances of a repeated event: a preliminary review
  
  Dilevski, N., Paterson, H. M., Walker, S. A., & van Golde, C. (2021). Adult memory for specific instances of a repeated event: a preliminary review. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 28(5), 711-732. https://doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2020.1837031
• The Complicated Relationship Between the Dark Triad and Emotional Intelligence: A Systematic Review
  
  Walker, S. A., Double, K. S., & Birney, D. P. (2021). The Complicated Relationship Between the Dark Triad and Emotional Intelligence: A Systematic Review. Emotion Review, 13(3), 257-274. https://doi.org/10.1177/17540739211014585
• A meta-analysis and systematic review of reactivity to judgements of learning
  
  Double, K. S., Birney, D. P., & Walker, S. A. (2018). A meta-analysis and systematic review of reactivity to judgements of learning. Memory, 26(6), 741-750. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2017.1404111

Other (Print)

• What do we do to help others feel better? Eight extrinsic emotion regulation processes linked to affective and interpersonal outcomes
  
  MacCann, C., Double, K. S., Olderbak, S., Austin, E. J., Pinkus, R., Walker, S. A., Kunst, H., & Niven, K. (n.d.). What do we do to help others feel better? Eight extrinsic emotion regulation processes linked to affective and interpersonal outcomes [Submitted]. Center for Open Science.