This is a review of a research article I wrote for an assignment. It gives a summary of an article regarding an experiment about the psychological habituation process. It relates the finding of the research to the topic of mental resilience and how we can strengthen it.

Article Title

“Emotional habituation as a protective factor for resilience: Insights from ERP and hierarchical linear modeling”

Summary

In this article, the research questions of how habituation, “to unpleasant and pleasant stimuli” affects psychological resilience was assessed (Yang et al. 2025). In essence, experimenting to observe how habituation to certain emotional stimuli affect the ability to handle stress and anxiety. 

In total, 69 participants were included, all of whom were right handed with normal or corrected-to-normal vision (Yang et al. 2025). Participants were measured by exposure to either unpleasant, neutral or pleasant images (Yang et al. 2025). Their self-reported arousal and EEG levels were recorded to assess their emotional habituation levels as the experiment went on (Yang et al. 2025). These data were then used to create a habituation “slope of subjective arousal ratings and LPP amplitudes” (Yang et al. 2025). The calculated slope and hierarchical linear modelling was then used to assess the emotional habituation in relation to emotional resilience; this was done over a 30-day period (Yang et al. 2025). 

It was found that repeated exposure to emotional stimuli resulted in habituation to those same emotions (Yang et al. 2025). In essence, being exposed repeatedly to unpleasant images resulted in habituation to the negative emotions those same images instilled in the beginning of the experiment, thus increasing emotional resilience. 

Review and Reflection

This article demonstrated how repeated interaction with the same stimuli can decrease our elicited behaviour, that is to say our response and behaviour. The experiment and article demonstrate the same topic in terms of emotional resiliency.

By repeated stimuli of either unpleasant, neutral, or pleasant images (Yang et al. 2025), the elicited behaviour could be minimized, especially in the case of unpleasant images and negative emotions.

We can connect this to our own psychology and mental health. The same principles that this article addressed provides insight in emotional resiliency that can be further studied for public mental health. How through emotional hardship, one can learn resiliency and take advantage of the habituation process.

We may be familiar with the technique used by psychologists, therapists and doctors when it come to treating phobias, PTSD and similar cases. This technique being “Exposure Therapy”.

We rarely are just given the ability to overcome hurdles in life, often times needing to face those same hurdles to make ourselves stronger. Do weight lifters not need to expose themselves to heavier weights to gain muscle? Do students not need to deal with difficult study questions to gain more knowledge? Sure we can learn techniques that would help, techniques on how to lift correctly, or how to study effectively, however we ourselves must still climb over those hurdles ourselves.

Similarly, by exposing ourselves, in safe quantities, to fears and stress we may have, we give ourselves the chance to get stronger and gain mental resilience. As this study shows, by being exposed to those types of situations more, we ourselves ‘habituate’ to the negative emotions they cause, thereby becoming even stronger.

I should mention, that this should only be in ‘safe quantities’, in safe environments to protect our wellbeing. The best place to do so is with the help of professionals, let it be therapists, psychologists or doctors. Always remember, there is always a sea of people ready to help however and whenever possible!

So lets used the natural mental effect we have, ‘habituation’, and grow stronger, increase our mental resilience, and take control of our situations ourselves!

References

Yang, Y., Hu, X., Kohn, N., Yan, L., Duan, H., & Wu, J. (2025). Emotional habituation as a protective factor for resilience: Insights from ERP and hierarchical linear modeling. Journal of affective disorders, 391, 119965. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2025.119965