The Expression Regulation Scale (ERS): Validation of Three Emotion Domains for Expressive Norms with Close and Distant Others in Private and Public Situations

Abstract

The social norms that guide emotional expression are critical for successful interpersonal interaction. However, the intricate emotional architecture underpinning these norms has remained largely unexplored. Our study is the first to rigorously investigate “display rules” or expressive norms for a comprehensive set of 64 theory-based emotions, utilizing a representative sample from the United Kingdom. The sample reflected national census demographics based on age, sex, and ethnicity. We measured expressive norms ranging from suppression to amplification in four social situations, combining two settings (public vs. private) and interactant types (close relations vs. distant others). Using a theory-building subsample (n = 507), we employed ant colony optimization (AOC) algorithms and a suite of factor analytical techniques to distill the emotions into three domains: affiliative, vulnerable, and disruptive. Subsequent validation in a separate confirmatory subsample (n = 506) supported this structure in all four situations (conditions), providing evidence these domains were robust. Notably, this new Expression Regulation Scale (ERS) demonstrated scalar invariance across all situations using repeated measures confirmatory factor analysis. We introduce scoring metrics and norms to aid researchers and practitioners in their analytical endeavors and highlight potential avenues for future research aimed at enriching our understanding of expression regulation.