Turkish Childrens Expression of Negative Emotions: Intracultural Variations Related to Socioeconomic Status
Abstract:
The goal of the present study was to examine intracultural variations in Turkish childrens emotion expression in relation to socioeconomic status (SES) characteristics, alone and in combination with child gender and their interaction partners. Childrens expectations about outcomes from expressing and their reasons for hiding their felt emotion in situations that involved unfairness, disappointment, public failure and a mishap were also delineated. A total of 123 school-aged Turkish children responded to hypothetical vignettes. Boys and girls from middle-high SES families were equally likely to endorse shame expression. However, lower SES boys were more likely to endorse hiding shame than lower SES girls. Middle-high SES children showed a tendency for expressing anger and sadness more than lower SES children. Turkish children primarily expected interpersonal support from emotion expression. Upon anger, disappointment and sadness expression, Turkish children expected instrumental support more from their parents than their peers. The intracultural differences are discussed in light of sociodemographic changes accompanied by cultural value shifts that differentially impact socialization goals and practices of families with different SES. Copyright (C) 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Journal title abbreviation:
Infant Child Dev
Year:
2016
Journal volume:
25
Journal issue:
5
Pages contribution:
440-458
Language:
eng
Print-ISSN:
1522-7227
TUM Institution:
Klinik und Poliklinik für Psychosomatische Medizin und Psychotherapie