Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The current study examined associations between emotional expressivity (happiness, sadness, fear, & anger) and provision of social support among adult daughters of alcoholic mothers. Participants (N = 299) completed a retrospective measure of maternal alcoholism and current measures of emotional expressivity (happiness, anger, sadness, & fear) and five of the six provisions of social support identified by Weiss (1974). Correlational analyses show support for the hypothesized negative associations between maternal alcoholism and emotional expressivity and positive associations between expressions of happiness and support availability (guidance, reliable alliance, social integration, attachment, & reassurance of self-worth). Results of the analyses employed to answer the research question about the associations between negative emotional expressivity (fear, anger, & sadness) and provisions of support appear to suggest that while expressions of sadness likely function to solicit certain types of support (guidance, reassurance of self-worth, & attachment), fear and anger expressions inhibit provision of support through social contagion. More specifically, fear expressions were associated with perceptions of decreased support across all five provisions. Results are discussed in the context of the literature reviewed and the study concludes with a summary of the limitations of the study and some directions for future research.