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Category: Project

Description: Previous research suggested that the more individuals feel pressured not to experience negative emotions, the more they felt loneliness (Bastian, Koval, Erbas, Houben, Pe & Kuppens, 2015) and the higher levels of negative emotions and the lower well-being they reported (Bastian, Kuppens, Hornsey, Park, Koval & Uchida, 2012). These findings suggest that the more individuals perceived that they should not experience negative emotions, the lower levels of well-being or happiness they experience. Even though preceding research findings shed a light on when individuals have a stronger association between their perceived pressure not to experience negative emotions and levels of well-being, a good overview of when and how perceived pressure not to experience negative emotions is related to well-being is still lacking. Especially not enough research has been done in how emotion regulation or view on emotions could play a role in the association between perceived societal norm on disapproval of negative emotions and well-being. Our first aim was to replicate previous finding that the more individuals think that society disapprove negative emotions, the lower levels of well-being they experience. Second, as an extension of our first aim, we investigated whether the association between perceived societal disapproval on negative emotion and well-being varies across different cultures namely Australia, South Korea and Poland. As our third aim, we explored how views on emotion (malleability of emotion) and emotion regulation strategies (reappraisal, suppression, help-seeking) are related with perceived pressure not to experience negative emotion, well-being. In investigating these associations, as our fourth aim, we also explored whether these associations differ across cultures. Overall, multiple series of analyses for these four research aims revealed as follow; First, the more individuals perceived that their society does not approve negative emotions, the lower levels of well-being they experienced. Second, this association between perceived pressure not to experience negative emotions and well-being did not differ across countries. Third, (a) reappraisal, help-seeking and belief on malleability of emotions were positively associated with well-being and (b) negatively associated with perceived pressure not to experience negative emotions. In contrast, (c) suppression was negatively associated with levels of well-being while (d) positively correlated with perceived pressure not to experience negative emotions. Fourth, even though there was no noticeable systematic cultural difference in how views on emotions and emotion regulation strategies were associated with well-being, we found an interesting cultural difference in how suppression is associate with well-being; suppression was negative related with well-being in Australia and Poland but this association was not significant in South Korea. In addition the strength of (negative) association between suppression and well-being was significantly stronger in Australia then in South Korea. This goes in line with previous literature that emotion regulation plays different role across socio-cultural contexts (Kalokerinos, Greenaway, & Casey, 2017). In addition, we conducted an additional research examining whether how views on emotion (malleability of emotion) and emotion regulation strategies (reappraisal, suppression, help-seeking) moderate or mediate the association between perceived social disapproval on negative emotions and depressive symptoms. Our analyses, in line with previous findings, showed that when negative emotions is perceived to be disapproved by the society, individuals experience more severe levels of depressive symptoms. Furthermore, this research revealed individuals, who perceive emotions malleable or who actively deal with their negative emotions by reappraise them or ask help to others to deal with their emotions, not only have lower levels of depressive symptoms but also have less impact of perceived pressure not to experience negative emotions (SEDAS) on depressive symptoms. All in all, this research suggest that it is crucial to face negative emotions and actively find ways to deal with them instead of feeling pressured not to experience them or suppress them.