Suppression and interpersonal harmony: A cross-cultural comparison between Chinese and European Americans.

Abstract

Based on Markus and Kitayama's (1991) theory, this study was conducted to examine whether the association between emotional suppression and interpersonal harmony would be moderated by cultural group (i.e., Chinese and European Americans) and an Asian cultural value (i.e., emotional self-control). A total of 451 college students (205 Chinese and 246 European Americans) participated in this study. As expected, results indicated that the association between emotional suppression and interpersonal harmony was significantly positive for Chinese but not significant for European Americans. Similarly, when emotional self-control was examined as a moderator, the results still confirmed our hypotheses. That is, the association between emotional suppression and interpersonal harmony was significantly positive for those with stronger endorsement of emotional self-control but not for those with weaker endorsement of emotional self-control. Furthermore, we examined whether the above results could be replicated when forbearance (a construct similar to suppression) and distress disclosure (a construct opposite to suppression) were examined. The results showed the same pattern for forbearance and distress disclosure when cultural group or emotional self-control served as the moderator. The convergence of findings increased the robustness of our results. Finally, our data suggest that individuals from Eastern, interdependent cultures (e.g., Chinese) tend to value emotional suppression to preserve interpersonal harmony; individuals from Western, independent cultures may or may not necessarily suppress their emotions for this purpose. A comprehensive understanding of the different meanings of a specific strategy (i.e., emotional suppression) in different cultural contexts is important to promote effective cross-cultural counseling.

Diversity from within: The Impact of Cultural Variables on Emotion Expressivity in Singapore

“…A study of 23 countries revealed that cultures that valued embeddedness, hierarchy, and were future-oriented reported engaging in greater emotion suppression than cultures valuing individualism, egalitarianism, and affective autonomy (Matsumoto et al, 2008). A similar study recording impressions of Taiwanese Chinese and European Americans indicated that Taiwanese Chinese engage in more suppression to maintain interpersonal harmony compared to their European American counterparts (Wei, Su, Carrera, & Lin, 2013). These studies support the general consensus that Asian cultures believe that self-expression may 'disturb social harmony' leading to constant engagement in emotion regulation (Markus & Kitayama, 1991).…”

“…In general, individualistic cultures promote primacy of individual needs, and individuals are encouraged to be authentic and open with their expression (Butler et al, 2007). Collectivist cultures value emotion suppression (Matsumoto et al, 2008), generally have more rules for expression management, and are more sensitive to others around them when expressing emotion, especially negative emotions (Butler et al, 2007;Safdar et al, 2009;Wei et al, 2013). Thus, extended to expression of positive and negative emotions we predict:…”

“…Despite vast research comparing European Americans with other cultural groups (e.g., Butler et al, 2007;Matsumoto et al, 2008;Soto, Perez, Kim, Lee, & Minnick, 2011;Wei et al, 2013), there is paucity in research comparing value-based cultural differences in emotion suppression in Singapore. The present study aims to address this gap in information.…”

Components of cultural complexity relating to emotions: A conceptual framework

“…East Asian cultures generally value emotional expression less and suppression more than Western cultures (Butler, Lee, & Gross, 2007;Ford & Mauss, 2015;Su, Wei, & Tsai, 2014;Tsai & Clobert, in press;Wei et al, 2013). The study of Eid and Diener (2001) was focused on desired and undesired emotions in the United States, Australia, Taiwan and China.…”

“…Recent empirical evidence has shown that cultures vary in emotion-related values (e.g., Su, Wei, & Tsai, 2014;Tsai & Clobert, in press;Wei, Su, Carrera, Lin, & Yi, 2013) as well as in complexity and differentiation of display rules, i.e. norms for emotional expression (Matsumoto, Yoo, & Fontaine, 2009).…”