Relations Among Korean and European-Americans’ Emotional Suppression, Subjective Well-Being, and Perceptions of Parental Warmth

• In Event: Poster Session 02
  In Poster Session: PS 02 Topic - Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context

Abstract

This study examined European American and Korean undergraduates’ perceptions of different forms of parental warmth as predictors of their own suppression of emotions as well as self-esteem and life satisfaction. The study examined whether the suppression of happiness and unhappiness might have different implications for subjective well-being as a function of culture. The suppression of positive and negative affect has negative implications for the psychological well-being of European Americans (Butler et al., 2003; Sheldon et al, 2017). However, the suppression of negative affect may not have negative implications for the well-being of Asian-Americans (Butler et al., 2009). Regarding positive affect, Matsumoto (1993) suggests that in collectivist cultures, it is important to express positive emotions. Thus, the suppression of happiness may be negatively associated with well-being for Koreans.

We also sought to examine how different forms of parental warmth predict undergraduates’ emotional suppression and indicators of well-being in the two groups. Parents of East-Asian descent express warmth to children less directly than European Americans (e.g.,Wu and Chao, 2011). Indirect expressions of warmth may be associated with emotion suppression and subjective well-being in ways that differ from warmth expressed directly.

We examined these possibilities in 122 Korean (52 female) and 121 (67 female) European American undergraduates. They reported their perceptions of their mothers’ and fathers’ direct (e.g., “My parent smiles at me”; Rohner & Khaleque, 2005) and indirect (e.g., “My parent would hide being sick so that I could focus on my studies”) warmth. Participants also reported on their own suppression of happiness and unhappiness toward family, friends and strangers (Sheldon et al., 2017; we combined these scores to assess overall suppression), their self-esteem (Rosenberg, 1981) and life happiness (Diener & Diener 1995), Because of issues of multicollinearity, we tested separate models for 1) direct and indirect warmth, and 2) maternal and paternal warmth.

The analyses of indirect parental warmth in Figure 1 show that it was positively associated with the suppression of unhappiness for Koreans, but not European Americans. For both groups, indirect warmth did not predict the suppression of happiness. The analyses of direct warmth in Figure 2 showed that the mothers’ direct expression of warmth negatively predicted the suppression of happiness for both groups, and negatively predicted the suppression of unhappiness for European Americans only. Korean fathers’ direct expression of warmth was positively associated with the suppression of unhappiness. In both groups, and for all models, the suppression of happiness predicted lower levels of self-esteem, but it did not predict life satisfaction. The suppression of unhappiness, on the other hand, negatively predicted self-esteem and life satisfaction for European Americans only. Finally, for both groups, perceptions of indirect and direct maternal and paternal warmth positively predicted self-esteem and life satisfaction. The results suggest that the suppression of unhappiness is problematic for European Americans, but not Koreans, but that the suppression of happiness is problematic across groups. Furthermore, indirect parental warmth appears to facilitate the suppression of unhappiness for Koreans, but not European Americans. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Authors

• Duane Rudy, University of Missouri - Columbia
  Presenting Author

• Jihee Im, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
  Non-Presenting Author

• Hana Song, SungKyunKwan University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kennon Sheldon, University of Missouri
  Non-Presenting Author