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Repressors' Appraisals of Emotional Stimuli in Threatening and Nonthreatening Positive Emotional Contexts,☆☆

https://doi.org/10.1006/jrpe.1998.2235Get rights and content

Abstract

This research tests a model of repression (Mendolia, Moore, & Tesser, 1996) which posits that repressors are hypersensitive to both negative and positive emotional events but distance themselves from these events only when the situation threatens their self-concept. The following three experiments demonstrate that repressors psychologically distance themselves from their responsiveness in threatening positive emotional contexts. Participants' emotional responsiveness was assessed using their appraisals of facial expressions of emotion (Experiments 1 and 2) and their self-reports of affect (Experiment 3). This model extends the current conceptualization of repression in that it identifies motivation (dispositional emotional sensitivity) and context (situational threats to self-concept) for repressors' distancing of themselves from negative and positive emotional events.

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    The research reported here was supported in part by funds associated with the Faculty Research Summer Support Award, The Graduate School and Office of Research, The University of Mississippi. I thank Elaine Bond for helpful comments and critical reading of drafts of this article and Shannon M. Cook, Emily Garland, Russell L. Kolts, Lisa K. Koch, Brandon R. Olive, and Jessica Yoste for their help with data collection.

    Address correspondence and reprint requests to Marilyn Mendolia at Department of Psychology, The University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677. E-mail:[email protected].

    ☆☆

    L. Berkowitz

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