(Not) showing you feel good, can be bad: the consequences of breaking expressivity norms for positive emotions
Are there optimal levels of showing one feels good? Examining four positive emotions (gratitude, interest, feeling moved, triumph), we demonstrate in two pre-registered experiments (n = 901) that even for pleasant feelings, showing too much – or too little – can lead to negative social consequences....
Main Authors: | , , , , |
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Format: | Journal Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2024
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/180221 |
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author | Manokara, Kunalan Balabanova, Alisa Đurić, Mirna Fischer, Agneta H. Sauter, Disa A. |
author2 | School of Social Sciences |
author_facet | School of Social Sciences Manokara, Kunalan Balabanova, Alisa Đurić, Mirna Fischer, Agneta H. Sauter, Disa A. |
author_sort | Manokara, Kunalan |
collection | NTU |
description | Are there optimal levels of showing one feels good? Examining four positive emotions (gratitude, interest, feeling moved, triumph), we demonstrate in two pre-registered experiments (n = 901) that even for pleasant feelings, showing too much – or too little – can lead to negative social consequences. Expressers who downplay their gratitude, and to a lesser degree interest, are deprived of social contact and power. Restrained displays of feeling moved are also met with reduced contact. For triumph, amplified expressers are socially avoided, yet at the same time, those who downplay their victory are seen to be less powerful. We demonstrate the role of person-perception mechanisms (warmth and competence) as underlying explanators for these effects. Taken together, our findings contribute to the growing literature on the social consequences of emotional expressions, by pointing to divergent outcomes for norm violations relating to different positive emotions. |
first_indexed | 2024-10-01T05:35:20Z |
format | Journal Article |
id | ntu-10356/180221 |
institution | Nanyang Technological University |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-10-01T05:35:20Z |
publishDate | 2024 |
record_format | dspace |
spelling | ntu-10356/1802212024-09-24T07:51:03Z (Not) showing you feel good, can be bad: the consequences of breaking expressivity norms for positive emotions Manokara, Kunalan Balabanova, Alisa Đurić, Mirna Fischer, Agneta H. Sauter, Disa A. School of Social Sciences Social Sciences Positive emotions Norm violation Are there optimal levels of showing one feels good? Examining four positive emotions (gratitude, interest, feeling moved, triumph), we demonstrate in two pre-registered experiments (n = 901) that even for pleasant feelings, showing too much – or too little – can lead to negative social consequences. Expressers who downplay their gratitude, and to a lesser degree interest, are deprived of social contact and power. Restrained displays of feeling moved are also met with reduced contact. For triumph, amplified expressers are socially avoided, yet at the same time, those who downplay their victory are seen to be less powerful. We demonstrate the role of person-perception mechanisms (warmth and competence) as underlying explanators for these effects. Taken together, our findings contribute to the growing literature on the social consequences of emotional expressions, by pointing to divergent outcomes for norm violations relating to different positive emotions. This research was funded by a Starting Grant from the European Research Council (Grant Number: SH4, ERC-2016-STG), awarded to the senior author. 2024-09-24T07:51:03Z 2024-09-24T07:51:03Z 2024 Journal Article Manokara, K., Balabanova, A., Đurić, M., Fischer, A. H. & Sauter, D. A. (2024). (Not) showing you feel good, can be bad: the consequences of breaking expressivity norms for positive emotions. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 113, 104600-. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2024.104600 0022-1031 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/180221 10.1016/j.jesp.2024.104600 2-s2.0-85186512907 113 104600 en Journal of Experimental Social Psychology © 2024 Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. |
spellingShingle | Social Sciences Positive emotions Norm violation Manokara, Kunalan Balabanova, Alisa Đurić, Mirna Fischer, Agneta H. Sauter, Disa A. (Not) showing you feel good, can be bad: the consequences of breaking expressivity norms for positive emotions |
title | (Not) showing you feel good, can be bad: the consequences of breaking expressivity norms for positive emotions |
title_full | (Not) showing you feel good, can be bad: the consequences of breaking expressivity norms for positive emotions |
title_fullStr | (Not) showing you feel good, can be bad: the consequences of breaking expressivity norms for positive emotions |
title_full_unstemmed | (Not) showing you feel good, can be bad: the consequences of breaking expressivity norms for positive emotions |
title_short | (Not) showing you feel good, can be bad: the consequences of breaking expressivity norms for positive emotions |
title_sort | not showing you feel good can be bad the consequences of breaking expressivity norms for positive emotions |
topic | Social Sciences Positive emotions Norm violation |
url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/180221 |
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