Display rules differ between positive emotions: Not all that feels good looks good

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Cultural Psychology

Background:

• Societal norms, known as display rules, govern emotional expression.
• Display rules are generally weaker for positive emotions compared to negative ones.
• It remains unclear if all positive emotions are equally acceptable to express.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate context-specific display rules for eight distinct positive emotions.
• To determine if expression norms differ across various positive emotional states.
• To examine the influence of contextual factors on positive emotion display.

Main Methods:

• Conducted four studies involving 1,181 participants across five countries.
• Mapped context-specific display rules for gratitude, admiration, interest, relief, amusement, feeling moved, sensory pleasure, and triumph.
• Analyzed the impact of expresser location and perceiver relationship on display rules.

Main Results:

• Display rules varied significantly between different positive emotions.
• Weaker display rules were observed for gratitude, interest, and amusement.
• Stronger display rules were noted for sensory pleasure, feeling moved, and triumph, influenced by context.

Conclusions:

• Not all positive emotions are equally acceptable to express.
• Contextual factors, particularly the relationship with the perceiver, substantially shape positive emotion display rules.
• This study provides the first comprehensive map of expression norms for specific positive emotions.