Research suggests the link between self-criticism and low social belonging is partially explained by lower expression of positive emotions (Luoma & Chwyl, 2020), however, it is not well understood why high self-critics (HSCs) express less positive emotions. The purpose of this study is to investigate the underlying mechanisms that might explain this reduced expression of positive emotions. Participants were recruited from an adult, community sample (N = 303). Participants came to the laboratory and were shown two short videos intended to reflect two different situations where social bonding might be possible, caregiving in response to another’s distress and responding with friendship/cooperation responses to another’s positive affect. They completed questionnaires pre- and post-video. We hypothesized that HSCs would respond to both videos with more negative emotions compared to low self-critics (LSCs) and would report more negative emotions in response to the caregiving stimulus compared to the friendship/cooperation stimulus. We further predicted HSCs would use more expressive suppression (ES) as an emotion regulation strategy and that their use of ES would be partially explained by increased negative emotions. Hypotheses were partially supported. Participants’ level of self-criticism positively predicted expressive suppression as well as negative emotions in response to both videos. HSCs reported higher shame across both videos, while low self-critics (LSC) reported variable shame across videos. HSCs’ increased use of ES was partially explained by their increase in negative emotions. These findings suggest HSCs may be using ES in response to contextually incongruent emotions. Clinical implications include providing HSCs with corrective emotional experiences in social-bonding contexts and helping them express their incongruent negative emotions in a safe setting.

研究表明，自我批评与低社会归属感之间的联系部分可以用较低的积极情绪表达来解释（Luoma & Chwyl，2020），但是，人们尚不清楚为什么高度自我批评 (HSC) 会表达较少的积极情绪。本研究的目的是调查可能解释这种积极情绪表达减少的潜在机制。参与者是从成人社区样本中招募的（N = 303）。参与者来到实验室，观看了两个短片，旨在反映两种不同的情况，在这些情况下，社会联系可能是可能的，照顾他人的痛苦，并以友谊/合作回应他人的积极影响。他们在视频前和视频后完成了调查问卷。我们假设与低自我批评 (LSC) 相比，HSC 会对这两个视频做出更多的负面情绪反应，并且与友谊/合作刺激相比，HSC 会报告更多的负面情绪来响应照料刺激。我们进一步预测 HSC 将使用更具表达性的抑制 (ES) 作为情绪调节策略，并且他们对 ES 的使用部分可以用增加的负面情绪来解释。假设得到部分支持。参与者的自我批评水平积极预测表达抑制以及对这两个视频的反应的负面情绪。HSC 在两个视频中都报告了更高的羞耻感，而低自我批评者 (LSC) 在视频中报告了不同程度的羞耻感。HSC 增加使用 ES 的部分原因是他们的负面情绪增加。这些发现表明 HSC 可能正在使用 ES 来响应上下文不一致的情绪。临床意义包括为 HSC 提供社交联系环境中的矫正情绪体验，并帮助他们在安全的环境中表达不协调的负面情绪。HSC 增加使用 ES 的部分原因是他们的负面情绪增加。这些发现表明 HSC 可能正在使用 ES 来响应上下文不一致的情绪。临床意义包括为 HSC 提供社交联系环境中的矫正情绪体验，并帮助他们在安全的环境中表达不协调的负面情绪。HSC 增加使用 ES 的部分原因是他们的负面情绪增加。这些发现表明 HSC 可能正在使用 ES 来响应上下文不一致的情绪。临床意义包括为 HSC 提供社交联系环境中的矫正情绪体验，并帮助他们在安全的环境中表达不协调的负面情绪。