Suppression, reappraisal, and acceptance of emotions: a comparison between Turkish immigrant and German adolescents

Abstract

Culture-specific norms appear to have an influence on emotion regulation processes. Comparative cultural studies of adults have demonstrated a higher tendency to suppress, a lower tendency to accept, and no difference in the reappraisal of, emotions in collectivist—compared with individualist-oriented samples. Furthermore, suppression of emotions has been shown to have less negative consequences for individuals with a collectivist rather than individualist cultural background. The current study investigated differences in habitual suppression, reappraisal, and acceptance of emotions between immigrant adolescents of Turkish origin and German adolescents. Compared with German adolescents, Turkish immigrant adolescents reported a higher tendency to suppress, and a lower tendency to accept, emotions. There was a large, positive correlation between suppression and reappraisal in the Turkish group but no such correlation in the German group. Conversely, expressive suppression correlated with depressive symptoms in the German group only, indicating that suppression might be less harmful for immigrants from a collectivist-oriented culture particularly when it is used more flexibly in combination with reappraisal.