A Comparison of Emotional A Comparison of Emotional Expression between Canadian-Expression between Canadian-born and Immigrants Living in born and Immigrants Living in

CanadaCanada S. Safdar, L.C. Gough, R. Raiciu, & J. RendellS. Safdar, L.C. Gough, R. Raiciu, & J. Rendell

University of Guelph, CanadaUniversity of Guelph, CanadaPaper presented at the Paper presented at the

International Association of Cross-Cultural PsychologyInternational Association of Cross-Cultural PsychologySpetses, Greece, July 10, 2006Spetses, Greece, July 10, 2006

Purpose of the StudyPurpose of the Study

• The purpose of the study was to examine similarity/differences of emotional display rules in samples of adults and students.

• The study also aimed at examining similarity/differences of emotional display rules in samples of Canadian born and Immigrants.

Hypotheses Hypotheses

• Hypothesis 1: – No difference between Canadian students and adults

in relation to expression of emotions were predicted.

• Hypothesis 2:– Canadian samples (students and adults) express their

emotions (i.e. happiness, surprise, anger, contempt, fear, sadness and disgust) more than the immigrant sample.

– Canadians will report that it is more acceptable to express positive emotions more overtly with family, friends, and casual acquaintances than negative emotions.

Sample 1: Canadian-Born Students Sample 1: Canadian-Born Students

• 124 Canadian-born university students

• 63(51%)=females 60 (48%)=males

• Age M=19, SD=1.46• 96% single• Religion: 33% Catholic,

35% Christian• Economic background:

48% high middle income, 27% middle income

Sample 2: Immigrant Students Sample 2: Immigrant Students • 104 Immigrant university

students • 64(62%)=females

40 (38%)=males• Age M=20, SD=2.91• 89% married• Religion: 27% Christian, 25%

Buddhist, 24% Muslim• Place of Birth: 15% India, 8%

Pakistan, 7% Philippines• Native Language: 39%

Romanian, Chinese 7%• Economic background: 43%

middle income, 32% high middle income

Sample 3: Canadian-Born AdultsSample 3: Canadian-Born Adults

• 94 Canadian-born adults • 66(70%)=females 28

(30%)=males• Age M=50, SD=9.88• 76% married, 13%

separated/divorced• Religion: 12% Catholic, 60%

Christian, 27% none• Economic background: 44%

middle income, 20% high middle income, 19% low middle income

• 90% had post secondary education

Instruments Instruments

• Display Rule Assessment Inventory-DRAI (21 questions)– Five possible behavioral responses: Express, Amplify,

Deamplify, Neutralize, Mask, & Qualify– Two possible situations: public & private– Seven emotions: fear, sadness, contempt, disgust,

happiness, surprise, & anger– Twenty one targets

• Assessment of intensity and commitment to each of the target person in the DRAI scale (20-item)

Scoring the DRAIScoring the DRAI

• Data transformation– Parameters of HOMALS analysis were used:

Amplify (.5651), Express (.3842), Qualify (-.1218), Demaplify (-.1545), Mask (-.3828), Neutralize (-.5338)

Target PersonsTarget Persons

• A factor analysis with varimax rotation and eigenvalue resulted in three independent factors for each sample: family, friends, and acquaintances. The structure of these factors were different for each sample.

Canadian Students (51.99%)

Canadian Adults

(59.87%)

Immigrant Students (57.19%)

Familyfather, mother, older/younger brother, older/younger sister, male/female close friends

Family father, mother, older/younger brother, older/younger sister, male close friends

Familyfather, mother, older/younger brother, older/younger sister, male/female lower class

Friendsmale/female higher class, male/female same class, male/female professor in 50/30

Friends female close friends, male/female acquaintance, male/ female colleague same level, male/female superior at work

Friends male/female close friends, male/female higher class, male/female same class, male/female professor in 50/30

Acquaintancesmale/female acquaintance, male/ female lower class

Acquaintances male/female subordinate at work

Acquaintances male/female acquaintance

Target Effect on Expression of Target Effect on Expression of Emotion Emotion

• A four-way Analyses of Variance (ANOVA) with repeated measures was conducted, with Category (3) as the between subject factor and Emotion (7), Target (3), and Context (2) as within-subjects variables.

• A main effect for category was not found– F(2, 304)=2.34, p > .05

• Category * Target – Wilks Lambda=.64, F(4, 606)=38.32, p < .001, η2 =

0.20

Category * TargetCategory * Target

-0.15

-0.1

-0.05

0

0.05

0.1

Family Friends Acquaitances

Canadian Students Canadian Adults Immigrant Students

Testing Hypothesis 1 Testing Hypothesis 1

• A significant effect for Emotion – Wilks Lambda=.20, F(6, 299)=195.58, p<.001,

η2=.80

• A significant effect for Emotion*Category interaction – Wilks Lambda=.74, F(12, 598)=7.97, p<.001,

η2=.14

Marginal Means of 7-EmotionsMarginal Means of 7-Emotions

-0.3

-0.2

-0.1

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

Anger Contempt Disgust Fear Happiness Sadness Surprise

Canadian Students Canadian Adults Immigrant Students

Testing Hypothesis 2Testing Hypothesis 2

• Category * Target * Emotion– Wilks Lambda=.67, F(24, 586)=5.38, p < .001,

η2 = 0.18

Marginal Means: FamilyMarginal Means: Family

-0.3

-0.2

-0.1

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

Anger

Contem

pt

Disgus

tFea

r

Happin

ess

Sadne

ss

Surpris

e

Canadian Students Canadian Adults Immigrant Students

Marginal Means: FriendsMarginal Means: Friends

-0.4

-0.3

-0.2

-0.1

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

Anger

Contem

pt

Disgus

tFea

r

Happin

ess

Sadne

ss

Surpris

e

Canadian Students Canadian Adults Immigrant Students

Marginal Means: AcquaintancesMarginal Means: Acquaintances

-0.4

-0.3

-0.2

-0.1

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

Anger

Contem

pt

Disgus

tFea

r

Happin

ess

Sadne

ss

Surpris

e

Canadian Students Canadian Adults Immigrant Students

Summary of FindingsSummary of Findings

• The composition of family, friends, and acquaintances varies from student to adult samples and from Canadian to immigrant samples.

• Students expressed their emotions more than adults with family, friends, and acquaintances.

• Canadian students expressed their emotions with family and acquaintances more than immigrant students.

Summary of Findings Summary of Findings

• In general, positive emotions (happiness & Surprise) are expressed more than negative emotions (anger, contempt, disgust, fear, & sadness).

• Canadian-born Adults express anger, contempt, & disgust less than Canadian-born Students and Immigrant Students.

• Canadian students express more happiness and surprise than immigrant students.

Summary of Findings Summary of Findings

• In expressing negative emotions (anger, contempt, disgust, & fear) to friends, Canadian adults were more like Canadian students and both groups significantly different from immigrant students.

• In expressing negative emotions to acquaintances, Canadian students were more like immigrant students and both group significantly different from Canadian adults.

Conclusion Conclusion

• The present findings compare with other studies on cultural differences in emotional expression among students.

• The study adds an important element in the determining the stability of the previous findings as we have included an adult sample.

• Future studies need to examine the relation of psychological dimensions of culture that were not examined in the present study.