Expressive suppression: definition and example
Expressive suppression is holding back the outward signs of an emotion, such as keeping a straight face while furious. It changes what others see more than what you feel, and research links habitual suppression to costs for memory, well-being, and relationships.
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What the research found
Gross reviewed evidence that suppression reduces visible expression but not the feeling itself, impairs memory for what happened, and raises physiological responding in both the suppressor and their conversation partner (Gross, 2002). In correlational studies, people who habitually suppress also reported fewer close relationships and lower well-being than habitual reappraisers (Gross and John, 2003).
When holding back is reasonable
Suppression is not always a mistake. A nurse who keeps her voice level while a patient yells, or a parent who stays composed during a child's tantrum, is making a sensible short-term choice. The problem is using it as the only tool, every day, for every feeling. A useful test: after you hold back, does the feeling get attention somewhere else?
A workplace example
A cashier stays polite while a customer insults him, then tells his supervisor at the end of the shift: "That customer at 3 p.m. called me stupid twice. I kept it together, but I need to know what we do next time." Holding back in the moment and dealing with it afterward are two separate steps, and the second one matters.
After you hold back
Holding a feeling in for an hour is different from holding it in for a year. After a moment of suppression, find a place for the feeling: a short walk, a note to yourself, or a conversation with someone you trust.
Related terms
Suppression works on expression; cognitive reappraisal works on meaning. Emotional labor and display rules describe the social expectations that often make suppression feel necessary.
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Research notes
- James J. Gross (2002). Emotion regulation: affective, cognitive, and social consequences. Psychophysiology. Reviews evidence that reappraisal lowers emotion experience and expression with no memory cost, while suppression lowers outward expression but not felt emotion, impairs memory, and increases physiological responding in suppressors and their social partners. Limits: review paper. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12212647/
- James J. Gross, Oliver P. John (2003). Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: Implications for affect, relationships, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Across five studies, people who habitually use reappraisal experience and express more positive and less negative emotion, have better interpersonal functioning, and report higher well-being, while habitual suppression shows the opposite pattern. Limits: correlational, individual-differences studies. doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.85.2.348
Related
- No. 01EQ glossaryThe words behind emotional intelligence, defined.
- No. 02Cognitive reappraisalCognitive reappraisal is changing how you interpret a situation so that its emotional impact changes, for example reading a terse email as rushed rather than hostile.
- No. 03Emotion regulationEmotion regulation is how people influence which emotions they have, when they have them, and how they experience and express them.
- No. 04Emotional laborEmotional labor is the work of managing your feelings and how you show them because a job requires it, such as staying upbeat with an angry customer or calm with a frightened patient.
- No. 05Display rulesDisplay rules are the shared, often unspoken norms about which emotions people should show, hide, exaggerate, or soften in a given setting and with a given audience.
- No. 06Emotional Intelligence Test: Free EQ AssessmentExplore your emotional choices with a free 36-item assessment for adults. Get a profile summary and strongest area, then choose whether to unlock the full report.
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