A Comparison of Emotional Expression between Canadian-born and Immigrants Living in Canada
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Transcript of A Comparison of Emotional Expression between Canadian-born and Immigrants Living in Canada
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
Contempt
Disgus
tFea
r
Happines
s
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
Contempt
Disgus
tFea
r
Happines
s
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
Contempt
Disgus
tFea
r
Happines
s
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.