The Role Played by Expressive Suppression in Regulating Emotions - Research Paper Example

Expressive Suppression Descriptive The descriptive tile for this assignment is “The role played by expressive suppression in regulating emotions.” Introduction In the field of psychology, the notion of expressive suppression is regarded as a facet of regulating emotions. It will be vital to mention, in this similar context that deregulations in the emotions might prove to be quite critical in formulating and developing pessimistic psychological outcomes (Moore et al., 2008). Thus, it can be asserted that the idea of expressive suppression is linked with the regulation as well as deregulation of emotions, resulting in creating an optimistic relationship between varied psychopathology measures and stress-related reactions. It can be apparently observed that the above discussed aspect i.e. expressive suppression is mainly linked with higher and lower self-reported symptoms of stress (Philippot & Feldman, 2004). Thesis Statement It has been argued that expressive suppressions usually emerge amid people while interacting with others. In this similar context, the article of Butler et al. (2003) claims that expressive suppression mainly results in causing several social consequences that affects the psychological behaviors of people to a considerable extent. On the other hand, the article of Yuan et al. (2014) highlighted that expressive suppression provide significant benefits to the Chinese during a frustrated situation in the form of regulating induced depression. In the article of Dalgleish et al. (2009), the ironic effects particularly of emotion suppression at the time of recounting distressing memories can be ascertained. These varied aspects revealed in the above stated three articles eventually draws a conclusion about the impact of expressive suppression in the psychological behaviors of individuals. With this concern, the research paper intends to analyze the role played by expressive suppression in regulating emotions of people by critically evaluating the facts highlighted in the aforementioned articles. Critical Evaluation The article “Ironic Effects of Emotion Suppression When Recounting Distressing Memories” of Dalgleish et al. (2009) mainly highlighted the ironic effects of emotion suppression at the time when recounting the distressed memories. In order to analyze the above stated subject matter of the study, a quantitative research approach has been taken into consideration in the form of conducting correlation analysis. According to the viewpoint of the researchers in relation to this article, the conditions wherein effortful controls are being negotiated, such as in laboratory manipulations of mental load or the individuals undergoing through varied medical levels of negative effect and suppress negative emotions can lead towards adverse situations. By taking into concern the results of the study with the responses obtained from the participants who were community volunteers, the researchers have drawn a valid conclusion. In conclusion, it has been commented that ironic effects of emotion suppression impose adverse impacts especially on social along with cognitive functioning and event in the case of physical health. By taking into concern the viewpoints of the researchers and the reliable research methods used in the study, it can be affirmed that the issue relating to biasness may not emerge in this particular study, as the results of the information provided by the participants have been compared based on gender ratio and then evaluated by employing one of the effective statistical means of correlation analysis (Dalgleish et al., 2009). However, in the article “The Social Consequences of Expressive Suppression” of Butler et al. (2003), the varied social consequences that result from expressive suppression have been highlighted by stating the fact that such expressive suppression disrupts communication and raises the level of stress amid the individuals by a considerable extent (Stoeser, 2007). With the aim of determining the social consequences, whether positive or negative, that result from expressive suppression, the researchers executed a qualitative approach of research methodology in the form of reviewing varied literatures, which are linked with interpersonal communication and emotion regulation among others. From reviewing the various literatures that are associated with interpersonal communication and emotion regulation, it can be asserted that the factor of expressive suppression often contributes in disrupting varied aspects of social exchange in the form of creating stress between the interaction partners and the regulators in a similar form. It can be apparently observed that seventy-two women belonging to Stanford University participated in the study of different cultures. Apart from the utilization of qualitative research, the researchers also used quantitative approach in the form of conducting other statistical tools including ANOVA and regression. By taking into concern the research methods adopted by the researchers in this particular study, the issue concerning biasness may emerge based on the viewpoints presented by the researchers and the methods adopted. This might be owing to the reason that the literatures reviewed for this study may not be reliable, as these might decipher dissimilar information about the social consequences that appear from expressive suppression (Butler et al., 2003). The article “The Regulation of Induced Depression during a Frustrating Situation: Benefits of Expressive Suppression in Chinese Individuals” of Yuan et al. (2014) focused on determining and analyzing the advantages attained from expressive suppression within the individuals of China in the context of regulating induced depression specifically during a frustrating situation. The background of this article signified that the notion of expressive suppression is mainly associated with worst emotional consequences such as depression as compared to acceptance. However, this notion cannot be applied to Chinese, as the display of suppressing emotions tends to preserve relational harmony, which is culturally valued in diverse nations of East Asia. Thus, in this context, there exists a possible chance of appearing biasness issue, as expressive suppression may differ in the context of raising emotional consequences based on varied cultural values of different nations. By taking into concern the results obtained from the study, it can be inferred that suppression instruction is mainly linked with decreased level of depressive experiences during the time of frustration. In relation to the above stated aspects, the researchers draw a conclusion that the idea of expressive suppression is deemed to be quite successful in reducing depression-associated physiological actions perform by the Chinese individuals. Thus, with this concern, it can be affirmed that certain disagreements might occur in the form of biasness that might be acting on the viewpoints presented by the researchers and also the methods applied in the study (Yuan et al., 2014). Conclusion After critically evaluating the provided three articles, it can be ascertained that all the articles have one factor in common i.e. deciphering the effects of expressive suppression in varied conditions. Thus, from this notion, it can be apparently observed that the issue of expressive suppression forms a relationship between stress-related symptoms and various psychopathology measures. However, there lays the probability of emerging biasness acting on the viewpoints presented by the researchers in one of the articles i.e. “The Social Consequences of Expressive Suppression.” This might be owing to the reason that the extreme reliance of reviewing literatures, which are related to stress regulations and interpersonal communication, may raise the possibility of such an issue. Thus, apart from this article, the other two provided articles find much applicability in the context of determining the effects of expressive suppression in different situations. References Butler, E. A., Egloff, B., Wilhelm, F. H., Smith, N. C., & Gross, J. J. (2003). The social consequences of expressive suppression. Emotion, 3(1), 48-67. Dalgleish, T., Yiend, J., Schweizer, S., & Dunn, B. D. (2009). Ironic effects of emotion suppression when recounting distressing memories. Emotion, 9(5), 744-749. Moore, S. A., Zoellner, L. A., & Mollenholt, N. (2008). Are expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal associated with stress-related symptoms? PMC, 46(9), 993-1000. Philippot, P., & Feldman, R. S. (2004). The regulation of emotion. US: Psychology Press. Stoeser, C. J. (2007). Expressive suppression: relation to post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and emotional experience. US: Proquest. Yuan, J., Liu, Y., Ding, N., & Yang, J. (2014). Introduction. The Regulation of Induced Depression during a Frustrating Situation: Benefits of Expressive Suppression in Chinese Individuals, 9(5), 1-11. Read More