Why do we vent our emotions and blame others during the coronavirus pandemic? The role of emotional clarity in the United States and South Korea (¿Por qué ventilamos nuestras emociones y culpabilizamos a otras personas durante la pandemia del coronavirus? El rol de la claridad emocional en los Estados Unidos y Corea del Sur)

Abstract

People have been experiencing more negative affect (NA) during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic than prior to its onset. This may increase instances of people venting their emotions and blaming others to relieve the flood of unregulated NA. This study examined individuals’ venting and blaming processes within the context of the pandemic and explored the mediating role of emotional clarity across cultures. We conducted an online survey with 210 and 197 participants from the US and South Korea, respectively. The results of the moderated mediation analysis showed that individuals’ NA during the pandemic significantly affected their venting and blaming via emotional clarity among US participants. This finding implies that when people in individualistic cultures do not fully understand their emotions, they are more likely to vent to or blame others. This can serve as a potential risk factor for hate crimes during the pandemic. Conversely, the mediation effect of emotional clarity was not significant among South Korean participants, suggesting dissimilar roles played by emotional clarity in individualistic versus collectivistic cultures in managing NA.