Emotional Regulation & Judicial Behavior Berkeley Judicial Institute 12.2.20 Prof. Terry Maroney & Hon. Jeremy Fogel

Judicial temperament is a Judicial temperament relatively stable set of is a psychological personal traits that, in construct dialectic with judicial environments and … capturing part of what we demands, drive behaviors look for in a judge that affect how justice is … separable from intellect, delivered and perceived. training, and ideology Goodness of fit Judicial temperament

The judge’s dispositional traits The judge’s work environment Negative emotionality The judge’s behaviors (anger, contempt, Nature of court frustration, fear, anxiety), Demeanor, verbal and written and specific positive emotionality expressions, interpersonal assignment; pace; (pleasure, satisfaction, interactions, health-related actions stress features; joy, excitement), kindness culture; supports; (compassion, empathy, isolation; security agape) and emotion ... possibility regulation (flexibility and range) Condensed water vapor can, depending on local conditions, form a white billowy cloud, a mackerel sky, or a dense ground fog, but it cannot become an asteroid.

Jerome Kagan & Nancy Snidman Goodness of fit Judicial temperament

The judge’s dispositional traits The judge’s work environment Negative emotionality The judge’s behaviors (anger, contempt, Nature of court frustration, fear, anxiety), Demeanor, verbal and written and specific positive emotionality expressions, interpersonal assignment; (pleasure, satisfaction, interactions, health-related actions pace; stress joy, excitement), kindness features; culture; (compassion, empathy, supports; agape) and emotion isolation; security possibility regulation (flexibility and ... range) Start with emotional granularity

Noticing, naming, and understanding your emotions is good for you - even if the emotions are unpleasant

Increased granularity

➔ Less aggressive behavior ➔ Longer, healthier lives ➔ Less drinking when stressed ➔ Better emotion regulation skills … is any attempt to affect what we feel, when we feel it, and how we express our feelings emotion regulation... → flexible, goal-driven deployment of diverse regulatory strategies ...

,,,with distinct costs and benefits “Mostly I think I just try to stuff it.” suppression and ● Doesn’t diminish emotion denial ● Ironic rebound & misdirection Representing to self and ● Impairs memory, others that you don’t feel cognition, and judgment what you feel ● Can harden into repressive coping “I take a break, and vent, or cry, or just sit for a couple minutes, and gather myself before I go back out.” situation modification ● Breaks up a dynamic ● Creates a sense of control altering some aspect of ● Conserves internal events, timing, space in resources order to alter emotions ● Use liberally, as duties allow “You can’t cry. Any authority I had would go out the window.” controlling external

behaviors ● Crucial to demeanor, courtroom management choosing to mask or change ● Little impact on emotion signs of emotion in your ● Creates cognitive load face, voice, and body ● Use purposely and sparingly “I’ve come to realize that some lawyers are just not that good. So what’s the point of yelling at them?” cognitive change ● What is your reaction about? ● What else could be true? changing your thoughts ● How could you change about someone or your internal narrative? something, in order to ● What broader or different change your feelings perspectives might help? “I bounce things off my colleagues.” “My wife and I talk every night.” “I rant and rail to my clerks.”

social sharing ● Diminishes isolation ● Increases granularity choosing whether, when, ● Fosters cognitive change and how to say, show, or ● Cultivates acceptance write something about your ● Builds or repairs relationships emotions tools for increasing regulatory skill

mindfulness professional help … is an important part of every judge’s temperament

➔ What are your strengths and emotion regulation... weaknesses? ➔ How can you grow within your envelope of possibility?