Is societal progress muting the expressivity of negative emotions? Evidence from two cross-national studies

June Chun Yeung; Vivian Miu-Chi Lun; Liman Man Wai Li; Michael Harris Bond; Mohsen Joshanloo; Maciej R Górski; Miłosz Kalinowski; Victoria Wai Lan Yeung; Eric Kenson Yau; M. Azhar Hussain; Iva Poláčková Šolcová; Brian W Haas; Farida Guemaz; Mahmoud Boussena; Ángel Sánchez-Rodríguez; Nuha Iter; Olha Vlasenko; Nur Amali Aminnuddin; İdil Işık; Oumar Barry; Márta Fülöp; David Igbokwe; Mladen Adamovic; Ragna Benedikta Garðarsdóttir; Natalia Soboleva; Julien Teyssier; Fumiko Kano Glückstad; Joonha Park; John Zelenski; Belkacem Yakhlef; Cai Xing; Arkadiusz Wasiel; Christin-Melanie Vauclair; Wijnand van Tilburg; Yvette van Osch; Yukiko Uchida; Vladimir Turjačanin; Tra Thi Thanh Kieu; Claudio Torres; Chien-Ru Sun; Stanislava Stoyanova; Maria Stogianni; Boris Sokolov; Rosita Sobhie; David Sirlopú; Ursula Serdarevich; Heyla Selim; Beate Schwarz; Rūta Sargautytė; Adil Samekin; Espen Røysamb; Vladyslav Romashov; Ana Maria Rocha; Muhammad Rizwan; Reza-A Rabby; Zoran Pavlović; Vassilis Pavlopoulos; Ewa Palikot; Mateusz Olechowski; Ayu Okvitawanli; Danielle Ochoa; Azar Nadi; Martin Nader; Katarzyna Myślińska-Szarek; Nur Fariza Mustaffa; Elke Murdock; Oriana Mosca; Magdalena Mosanya; Fatma Mokadem; Tamara Mohorić; Linda Mohammed; Fridanna Maricchiolo; Arina Malyonova; Alexander Malyonov; Magdalena Łużniak-Piecha; J. Hannah Lee; Anna Kwiatkowska; Nicole Kronberger; Olga Kostoula; Aleksandra Kosiarczyk; Agata Kocimska-Bortnowska; Lucie Klůzová Kračmárová; Elmina Kazimzade; Natalia Kascakova; Naved Iqbal; Eric Raymond Igou; Katharina Henk; Alin Gavreliuc; Vladimer Gamsakhurdia; Carla Sofia Esteves; Agustin Espinosa; Alejandra Domínguez Espinosa; Patrick Denoux; Diana Boer; Pablo Eduardo Barrientos Marroquin; Arno Baltin; Rasmata Bakyono-Nabaloum; Douglas Marlon Arévalo Mira; Lily Appoh; Laura Andrade; Anna Almakaeva; Isabelle Albert; Marwan Al-Zoubi; Charity Akotia; Grace Akello; Kuba Krys

doi:10.1177/00220221261471052

Title	Is societal progress muting the expressivity of negative emotions? Evidence from two cross-national studies
Authors	Yeung, June Chun ; Lun, Vivian Miu-Chi ; Li, Liman Man Wai ; Bond, Michael Harris ; Joshanloo, Mohsen ; Górski, Maciej R ; Kalinowski, Miłosz ; Yeung, Victoria Wai Lan ; Yau, Eric Kenson ; Hussain, M. Azhar ; Poláčková Šolcová, Iva ; Haas, Brian W ; Guemaz, Farida ; Boussena, Mahmoud ; Sánchez-Rodríguez, Ángel ; Iter, Nuha ; Vlasenko, Olha ; Aminnuddin, Nur Amali ; Işık, İdil ; Barry, Oumar ; Fülöp, Márta ; Igbokwe, David ; Adamovic, Mladen ; Garðarsdóttir, Ragna Benedikta ; Soboleva, Natalia ; Teyssier, Julien ; Kano Glückstad, Fumiko ; Park, Joonha ; Zelenski, John ; Yakhlef, Belkacem ; Xing, Cai ; Wasiel, Arkadiusz ; Vauclair, Christin-Melanie ; van Tilburg, Wijnand ; van Osch, Yvette ; Uchida, Yukiko ; Turjačanin, Vladimir ; Kieu, Tra Thi Thanh ; Torres, Claudio ; Sun, Chien-Ru ; Stoyanova, Stanislava ; Stogianni, Maria ; Sokolov, Boris ; Sobhie, Rosita ; Sirlopú, David ; Serdarevich, Ursula ; Selim, Heyla ; Schwarz, Beate ; Sargautytė, Rūta ; Samekin, Adil ; Røysamb, Espen ; Romashov, Vladyslav ; Rocha, Ana Maria ; Rizwan, Muhammad ; Rabby, Reza-A ; Pavlović, Zoran ; Pavlopoulos, Vassilis ; Palikot, Ewa ; Olechowski, Mateusz ; Okvitawanli, Ayu ; Ochoa, Danielle ; Nadi, Azar ; Nader, Martin ; Myślińska-Szarek, Katarzyna ; Mustaffa, Nur Fariza ; Murdock, Elke ; Mosca, Oriana ; Mosanya, Magdalena ; Mokadem, Fatma ; Mohorić, Tamara ; Mohammed, Linda ; Maricchiolo, Fridanna ; Malyonova, Arina ; Malyonov, Alexander ; Łużniak-Piecha, Magdalena ; Lee, J. Hannah ; Kwiatkowska, Anna ; Kronberger, Nicole ; Kostoula, Olga ; Kosiarczyk, Aleksandra ; Kocimska-Bortnowska, Agata ; Klůzová Kračmárová, Lucie ; Kazimzade, Elmina ; Kascakova, Natalia ; Iqbal, Naved ; Igou, Eric Raymond ; Henk, Katharina ; Gavreliuc, Alin ; Gamsakhurdia, Vladimer ; Esteves, Carla Sofia ; Espinosa, Agustin ; Domínguez Espinosa, Alejandra ; Denoux, Patrick ; Boer, Diana ; Barrientos Marroquin, Pablo Eduardo ; Baltin, Arno ; Bakyono-Nabaloum, Rasmata ; Mira, Douglas Marlon Arévalo ; Appoh, Lily ; Andrade, Laura ; Almakaeva, Anna ; Albert, Isabelle ; Al-Zoubi, Marwan ; Akotia, Charity ; Akello, Grace ; Krys, Kuba
DOI	10.1177/00220221261471052
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Is Part of	Journal of cross-cultural psychology.. Thousand Oaks, CA : SAGE Publications Inc.. 2026, first published online, p. [1-30].. ISSN 0022-0221. eISSN 1552-5422
Keywords [eng]	emotional expression ; emotional experience ; social norms ; societal development ; culture
Abstract [eng]	Contemporary theories of emotion emphasize the dual role of emotions as both personal experiences and communicative signals during social interactions. However, the impact of macro-level societal structures on emotional expression remains underexplored. This study investigates the expression-experience discrepancy for self-reported emotions across nations, focusing on how societal development relates to this discrepancy, which captures expressivity. Using meta-analysis and multilevel modeling with a multinational sample ( N sample = 12,549, k nation = 48; Study 1), we assessed the directions and variabilities in the frequency of expression of both positive and negative emotions, relative to the frequency of experiencing them. Negative emotions were more likely to be under-expressed. Further analyses revealed that societal trust, system quality and fairness, and the human development index significantly predicted the size of these discrepancies. Surprisingly, these effects were not associated with traditional cultural dimensions such as individualism versus collectivism, providing new insights into the social functionality of emotions from a macro perspective. These findings were replicated in an extended multinational sample ( N sample = 19,690, k nation = 65; Study 2). Our findings highlight the importance of considering structural and societal factors in emotion research and provide a foundation for future explorations into the relations between cultural contexts and the expression of emotions.
Published	Thousand Oaks, CA : SAGE Publications Inc
Type	Journal article
Language	English
Publication date	2026
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„Is societal progress muting the expressivity of negative emotions? Evidence from two cross-national studies“