美国哥伦比亚大学社会心理学课程论文The Importance of Being Flexible-The Ability to Both Enhance and Suppress Emotional Expression Predicts Long-Term Adjustment
George A. Bonanno, Anthony Papa, Kathleen O’Neill, Maren Westphal, and Karin Coifman
Teachers College, Columbia University
Address correspondence to George A. Bonanno, Clinical Psychology Program, 525 West 120th
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ABSTRACT
Researchers have documented the consequences of both expressing and suppressing emotionusing between-subjects designs. It may be argued, however, that successful adaptation dependsnot so much on any one regulatory process, but on the ability to flexibly enhance or suppressemotional expression in accord with situational demands. We tested this hypothesis among NewYork City college students in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks. Subjects’performance in a laboratory task in which they enhanced emotional expression, suppressedemotional expression, and behaved normally on different trials was examined as a prospectivepredictor of their adjustment across the first two years of college. Results supported theflexibility hypothesis. A regression analysis controlling for http://ukthesiss.com/thesis_sample/shehuixuexinlixue/initial distress and motivation andcognitive resources found that subjects who were better able to enhance and suppress theexpression of emotion evidenced less distress by the end of the second year. Memory deficitswere also observed for both the enhancement and the suppression tasks, suggesting that bothprocesses require cognitive resources.Is it better to express or conceal one's emotions? Although scholars have debated thisquestion for centuries, research over the past few decades suggests that both expressing andsuppressing the expression of emotion can serve adaptive ends, but also that both behaviors mayextract some cost (Bonanno, 2001; Gross, 1998b). How can these competing findings bereconciled? Recent research on coping has indicated that the crucial element in successfuladaptation is not so much which particular strategies are used, but rather whether copingstrategies are applied flexibly in a manner that corresponds with the nature of the stressor (e.g.Cheng, 2001). In a similar vein, emotion theorists have increasingly argued that whether oneexpresses or suppresses emotional expression is not as important for adjustment as is the abilityto flexibly express or suppress emotional expression as demanded by the situational context(Barrett & Gross, 2001; Bonanno, 2001; Consedine, Magai, & Bonanno, 2002; Parrott, 1993;Westphal & Bonanno, 2004).
It is widely accepted that emotions are not unidimensional phenomena, but rathermanifest themselves through multiple response channels, including emotional experience,expression, and physiology. Each of these components is thought to serve distinct adaptive endsand to be subject to self-regulatory processes (Bonanno, 2001; Gross, 1998b). The expression ofemotion serves multiple adaptive functions, including communicating and regulating internalstates (Ekman & Davidson, 1993; Izard, 1990; Zajonc, Murphy, & Inglehart, 1989) anddeveloping and maintaining social interactions (Darwin, 1872; Ekman, 1993; Keltner, 1995). |
