Interpersonal mechanisms for the maintenance of self-criticism: Expressive suppression, emotion expression, and self-concealment

Abstract

This paper focused on identifying patterns of emotional expression that may account for the relationship between self-criticism and social disconnection. In particular, the study examined whether self-criticism was related to three aspects of emotional openness and expressivity—increased expressive suppression, reduced expression of positive emotion, and increased self-concealment—and whether these variables, in turn, predicted lower levels of social belonging. Regressions and structural equation modeling were used to analyze self-report data from a community sample (N = 303). Results showed that self-criticism was associated with greater expressive suppression, more self-concealment, and reduced expression of positive emotion, even after controlling for depressive symptoms and the tendency to feel emotions intensely. Results were not supportive of our prediction that expressive suppression would mediate the relationship between self-criticism and lower levels of social belonging. However, a multiple mediator model showed that self-concealment and reduced expression of positive emotion, combined, partially mediated the relationship between self-criticism and social belonging. Overall, results were strongest that reduced expression of positive emotion mediates the relationship between self-criticism and lower feelings of belonging.

Full text

Interpersonal mechanisms for the maintenance of self-criticism:
Expressive suppression, emotion expression, and self-concealment
Jason B. Luoma
1
&Christina Chwyl
1
#Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract
This paper focused on identifying patterns of emotional expression that may account for the relationship between self-criticism
and social disconnection. In particular, the study examined whether self-criticism was related to three aspects of emotional
openness and expressivity—increased expressive suppression, reduced expression of positive emotion, and increased self-con-
cealment—and whether these variables, in turn, predicted lower levels of social belonging. Regressions and structural equation
modeling were used to analyze self-report data from a community sample (N= 303). Results showed that self-criticism was
associated with greater expressive suppression, more self-concealment, and reduced expression of positive emotion, even after
controlling for depressive symptoms and the tendency to feel emotions intensely. Results were not supportive of our prediction
that expressive suppression would mediate the relationship between self-criticism and lower levels of social belonging. However,
a multiple mediator model showed that self-concealment and reduced expression of positive emotion, combined, partially
mediated the relationship between self-criticism and social belonging. Overall, results were strongest that reduced expression
of positive emotion mediates the relationship between self-criticism and lower feelings of belonging.
Keywords Self-criticism .Expressive suppression .Emotion expression .Self-concealment .Social belonging
Self-criticism, the negative and harsh evaluation of oneself
(Shahar 2015), is a transdiagnostic contributor to a variety of
psychological disorders (McIntyre et al. 2018;O’Connor and
Noyce 2008; Shahar and Priel 2003;Werneretal.2019;
Zelkowitz and Cole 2019). An important, yet under-
researched, means through which self-criticism affects psy-
chological disorders is through its interference with healthy
social relationships (e.g., Dunkley et al. 2009; Fichman et al.
1994; Lassri et al. 2018). Furthermore, self-criticism likely
places people at risk of experiencing social disconnection
and loneliness (Mongrain 1998), and extensive research un-
derscores the importance of social belonging for well-being
(e.g. Verhagen et al. 2017) and protection from psychopathol-
ogy, such as depression (Santini et al. 2015). This paper fo-
cused on identifying behaviors relating to emotional openness
and expressionthat may contribute to the relationship between
self-criticism and negative interpersonal outcomes.
From a cognitive-evolutionary perspective (Gilbert and
Trower 2001), self-criticism serves a self-protective function,
wherein it functions as a form of self-monitoring aimed at
preventing mistakes that could reveal perceived flaws to others.
Humans evolved in small bands of individuals wherein group
membership was essential to survival and where getting excluded
from the tribe was essentially a death sentence (Lynch 2018). By
helping people self-monitor mistakes (some of which could lead
to experiences of rejection), self-criticism may have therefore
played an important, if not life-saving, social function.
Yet, while self-critical monitoring may have evolved as a
means to minimize rejection and ostracism, research suggests
that highly self-critical individuals experience more negative
interpersonal outcomes than less self-critical individuals. For
example, more highly self-critical individuals report more im-
pairment in romantic relationships (Lassri et al. 2018;Lassri
and Shahar 2012; Martins et al. 2015), lower perceived social
support (Dunkley et al. 2016; Dunkley et al. 2006;Mongrain
1998; Priel and Besser 2000), higher loneliness (Besser et al.
2003), and more interpersonal problems (Fichman et al.
1994). Their romantic partners also tend to report lower levels
of relationship satisfaction (Hewitt et al. 2017) and tend to
have more complaints about them (Whiffen and Aube
1999). Peers report less closeness with self-critical individuals
*Jason B. Luoma
jbluoma@portlandpsychotherapy.com
1
Portland Psychotherapy Clinic, Research, & Training Center, 3700 N
Williams, Portland, OR 97227, USA
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-00920-z
Published online: 13 July 2020
Current Psychology (2022) 41:4027–4040
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.