Differences in Emotional Expressivity W06 2.8.22

Paying attention to differences in emotional expressivity has never really been a problem for me, mostly because I am a chameleon myself. I generally wait for other people around me to set the precedent and standard of behavior (to an extent) before acting myself. I note how differently I feel after interactions with certain people, whether I was forcing myself to 'mask' my emotions in order to keep them socially comfortable, or whether I was able to be my true and full self.

But perhaps the most interesting thing of note to me concerning this topic is how universal emotions are in private, versus in public. I plan to teach in South Korea and Japan one day and this is such an interesting topic to consider. I know my chameleon tendencies can help me, but I wonder if in the long run they won't repress me? I wonder how these areas of lower tolerance for emotional expressivity do with their mental health; with their interpersonal communication? I personally find the expression of emotions to be extremely important to effective communication; they are a language in and of themselves. Is one form of expression better than another? Should we prioritize sensitivity to the emotions of others, or being true to the emotions we feel ourselves? 

This reminds me of the sister Isabela from Encanto, who bottled up her emotions and didn't allow herself to feel what she needed to in the moment; it took an entire musical number for her to recognize that there are other things that she was feeling and that those things aren't bad. 

It's intriguing to think about this relatively new wave in the US (especially when discussing men's mental health) of encouragement to express emotion in a healthy way. I wonder if these types of movements would garner more criticism than support, despite scientific evidence, in these low-tolerance areas of the world? 

Let's do a little experiment; comment below where you are from and where you consider yourself to be on the scale of emotional expressivity tolerance.

Low ---------------Mid-----------------High

I am from Colorado in the US and I would consider myself to be just right of center.