(Not) showing you feel good, can be bad: The consequences of breaking expressivity norms for positive emotions

Abstract

Are there optimal levels of showing one feels good? Examining four positive emotions (gratitude, interest, feeling moved, triumph), we demonstrate in two pre-registered experiments (n = 901) that even for pleasant feelings, showing too much – or too little – can lead to negative social consequences. Expressers who downplay their gratitude, and to a lesser degree interest, are deprived of social contact and power. Restrained displays of feeling moved are also met with reduced contact. For triumph, amplified expressers are socially avoided, yet at the same time, those who downplay their victory are seen to be less powerful. We demonstrate the role of person-perception mechanisms (warmth and competence) as underlying explanators for these effects. Taken together, our findings contribute to the growing literature on the social consequences of emotional expressions, by pointing to divergent outcomes for norm violations relating to different positive emotions.