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

1. A Comparison of Emotional Expression between Canadian-born and Immigrants Living in Canada S. Safdar, L.C. Gough, R. Raiciu, & J. Rendell University of Guelph, Canada Paper presented at the International Association of Cross-Cultural Psychology Spetses, Greece, July 10, 2006

2. Purpose 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.

3. 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.

4. 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

5. 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

6. Sample 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

7. 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)

8. Scoring the DRAI • Data transformation • Parameters of HOMALS analysis were used: Amplify (.5651), Express (.3842), Qualify (-.1218), Demaplify (-.1545), Mask (-.3828), Neutralize (-.5338)

9. Target 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.

11. Target Effect on Expression of 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

12. Category * Target

13. 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

14. Marginal Means of 7-Emotions

15. Testing Hypothesis 2 • Category * Target * Emotion • Wilks Lambda=.67, F(24, 586)=5.38, p < .001, η2 = 0.18

16. Marginal Means: Family

17. Marginal Means: Friends

18. Marginal Means: Acquaintances

19. Summary 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.

20. 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.

21. 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.

22. 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.