i   Acknowledgement There are many people that I want to thank upon the completion of this dissertation. I owe my deepest gratitude to my husband and my family, for their bondless understanding and unconditional support in helping me to pursue my dream. I would like to express my deep and sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Professor George Bishop, Ph. D, Head of the Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore. His wide knowledge, logical ways of thinking, constructive comments, and important support throughout this work have been of great value for me. This thesis would not have been possible without his help. Next, my appreciation and solute goes to A/P Annett Schirmer. who offered me chances to join her group meeting and allowed me to learn so much from there. This work is also indebted to many of the members in the department: A/P Mike Cheung for his advices in statistics; Dr. Why Yong Peng for his technical advices in the lab; Stephen, Li Neng, Yong Hao, Kanika, and Ranjith for those invaluable discussions. Last but not least, endless gratitude is owed to my peers who were and are in the graduate room and the laboratory, for their companion and support. All these technical and spiritual support I’ve received truly warmed my heart and I am enormously indebted to everyone who had encouraged me to be here.   ii   Table of Content   Summary List of Tables List of Figures v vii viii CHAPTER Introduction Process Model of Emotion Regulation Two Specific Strategies: Cognitive Reappraisal and Expression Suppression Two Specific Health Indicators: Subjective Well-being and Cardiovascular Reactivity Affective and Physiological Consequences of Reappraisal and Suppression Moderation Effect of Culture between Emotion Regulation and Consequences Individual and Group Differences in Usage of Reappraisal and Suppression Culture Shapes the Relationship between Emotion Regulation Strategies and Consequences Chinese and Indians Overview of the Present Research 11 12 14 CHAPTER II Study – Emotion Reappraisal and Suppression, and Their Relationship with Subjective Well-being among Chinese and Indians Overview Objectives and Hypotheses Method Participants Measures Results Preliminary Analyses Structure of ERQ Scale SWB Scales Intercorrelations among Variables Hypotheses Testing Group Differences of ERQ Subscales Emotion Expression in front of Different Audiences Relationship between Ethnicity, Emotion Regulation, and SWB Discussion Ethnic Difference in Reappraisal Usage and Its Association with SWB Emotion Expression in Chinese and Indians Consequence of Suppression among Asian Population 17 20 22 22 22 24 24 24 25 26 27 27 27 29 30 30 33 35   iii   CHAPTER III Study – Individual and Ethnic Differences in Habitual Usage of Reappraisal and Suppression in Relationship with Cardiovascular Profile Overview Objectives and Hypothesis Method Participants Design Tasks Procedure Measures Data Analysis Data Reduction of Physiological Indices Manipulation Check Results Descriptive Statistics Hypothesis Testing Usage of Reappraisal and Suppression Self-reported Emotional Experience Effects of Emotion Regulation, Ethnicity, and Condition Manipulation on CVR Other Findings Discussion Patterns of CVR Responses Patterns of Self-rated Emotional Experiences Self-reported Usage of Emotion Regulation Strategies Non-significant Correlation between Suppression and DVs Positive Association of Reappraisal with Emotional and Cardiovascular Reactivity 37 44 45 45 47 47 48 49 52 52 52 53 53 54 54 55 58 61 62 62 62 63 65 67 CHAPTER IV Study 3a – Individual and Ethnic Differences in the Usage of Reappraisal and Its Relationship with Subjective Well-being Overview Objectives and Hypotheses Method Participants and Procedure Measures Results Preliminary Analyses: Overview of Variables Hypotheses Testing Reappraisal Usage in Different Ethnic Groups Reappraisal Dimensions in Relationship with SWB Discussion Culture and General Usage of Reappraisal The Implications of Reappraisal Dimensions 69 71 72 72 73 75 75 75 75 77 79 79 79   iv   Study 3b – Individual and Ethnic Difference in Emotion Expression and Suppression in Different Situations Overview Objectives and Hypotheses Method Results Preliminary Analysis: Descriptive Statistics Hypothesis Testing Group Differences in ERQ.S Cross-situational Variation of Emotion Expression among Ethnic Groups Other Findings Discussion Cross-situational Variation: The Manifestation of Cultural Display Rules Ethnic Difference in Emotion Expression Limitations 82 85 86 88 88 88 88 90 92 93 93 94 95 CHAPTER V General Discussion   Summary of Findings Contribution: Process Model in a Socio-cultural Functional View Cultural Models of Emotions: Chinese and Indians Non-conscious Forms of Emotion Regulation and Socio-cultural Influence Automaticity Hypothesis Limitations and Implications for Future Directions Conclusion 98 100 104 107 109 111 113 REFERENCES 114 APPENDIX A APPENDIX B APPENDIX C APPENDIX D 124 127 128 129   v   Summary The effects of two emotion regulation strategies, reappraisal and suppression, on subjective well-being (SWB) and cardiovascular reactivity (CVR), and the potential moderating role of ethnicity on these relationships were investigated. Results showed reappraisal to be an adaptive emotion regulation strategy, linked positively to SWB, and to more adaptive affective and physiological reactivity in response to an anger provocation. This positive relationship holds for both genders and among Chinese and Indians. On the other hand, usage of suppression showed no correlation with SWB or cardiovascular reactivity during anger provocation in our Asian samples. This non-significant relationship is consistent with the claim of “automaticity hypothesis”, such that Asians use suppression often and become good at it, and therefore suppression usage is associated with ameliorated consequences. In addition, Chinese and Indians showed differences in their reappraisal and expression of emotions, which reflects socio-cultural influences on cognition and behavior. Three studies were conducted. Study is a survey study. One hundred and six Chinese and Indians took part in this study. A positive relationship between reappraisal usage and SWB emerged, but the relationship between suppression usage and SWB was not significant in our sample. Chinese and Indians also reported different emotion expression patterns in front of different audiences. Study is a laboratory-based study. Forty Chinese females and forty-one Indian females were involved in this experiment. Higher reappraisal scores are associated with healthier CVR profile and higher positive emotion ratings during a stress-eliciting task. In contrast, suppression usage had no significant association with CVR or self-reported affective experience during the experiment. Study is another survey study. Two hundreds and thirty-two Chinese, Indians, and Caucasian completed the questionnaires. The positive relationship between reappraisal usage and SWB was replicated. In addition, using reappraisal to sustain negative affect and dampen positive affect was proved to be independent predictors on SWB. Emotion expression levels   vi   in different situations were also studied. Caucasians reported overall higher expression and lower suppression than Chinese and Indians in various situations. Indians reported higher direct expression of dissatisfaction and appreciation than did Chinese, especially to people who are not emotionally close. Overall, the three studies investigated individual and group differences of reappraisal and suppression usage, as well as their relationship with affective and physiological consequences. These results support the usefulness of the process model of emotion regulation in studying different regulatory strategies, but emphasize the need to adopt a socio-cultural perspective.   vii   List of Tables     Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table 10 Table 11 Table 12 Table 13 Table 14 Table 15 Table 16 Table 17 Table 18 Table 19 Table 20 Table 21 Table 22 Table 23   Means and SD of SWB Scales by Ethnicity Pearson Correlations among Variables Repeated Measure MANOVA on Expression In Front Of Different Audiences Means and (SD) of Emotion Expression in front of Different Audiences Effect of Close vs. Not-close Relationship on Emotion Expression By Ethnicity Means and (SD) of Demographic Information by Ethnicity Means and (SDs) of CVR by Ethnicity and Condition Means and (SD) of Self-reported Reappraisal and Suppression Usage Effects of ERQ.R, Ethnicity, and Condition on Self-rated Emotional Experiences Means and (SD) of Self-rated Irritation Composite Scores by Ethnicity and Condition and Time Effects of Covariates, Baseline, Reappraisal, Ethnicity, and Condition on CVR Means and (SD) of Self-rated Positive Composite Scores by Ethnicity and Condition and Time Means for Demographic Variables by Gender and Ethnicity Means and SD of the Variables, along with Scale Properties Pearson Correlation among Variables Hierarchical Regression Analyses Predicting SWB From Reappraisal Scores Items for Emotion Expression Assessment Inventory Scale Properties, Means and SDs for the EEAI and ERQ.S Repeated-measure MANOVA on Eight Dimensions of The EEAI Marginal Means for AE in Different Situations by Ethnicity Marginal Means for CE in Different Situations by Ethnicity Marginal Means for CE in Different Situations by Gender Pearson Correlations Between ERQ.S Score and Well-Being Scales 26 26 28 28 29 46 54 55 57 57 59 61 73 76 77 78 86 89 90 91 92 92 109   viii   List of Figures   Figure Figure Figure     Process Model of Emotion Regulation (from Gross & John, 2003) Emotion Expression Ratings by Relationship and Ethnicity Significant Coefficients of ERQ.R on CVR Readings 29 60 . III Study 2 – Individual and Ethnic Differences in Habitual Usage of Reappraisal and Suppression in Relationship with Cardiovascular Profile Overview 37 Objectives and Hypothesis. Well-being among Chinese and Indians Overview 17 Objectives and Hypotheses 20 Method 22 Participants 22 Measures 22 Results 24 Preliminary Analyses 24 Structure of ERQ Scale 24 . – Individual and Ethnic Differences in the Usage of Reappraisal and Its Relationship with Subjective Well-being Overview 69 Objectives and Hypotheses 71 Method 72 Participants and