Emotion Regulation in Mexican and U.S. White Adults: Cultural and Gender Differences.: Cultural and Gender Differences

The present study aimed to clarify the relationship between (a) cultural differences (reflected in family
values and family environments) and gender and (b) cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression
among Mexican and White U.S. undergraduate college students. The Emotion Regulation Questionnaire
(ERQ) to assess Cognitive Reappraisal and Expressive Suppression, the Family Environment Scale (FES)
to assess Cohesion, Conflict, and Expressiveness within the family environment, the Family Attitude Scale
(FAS) to assess traditional values, and a demographic questionnaire were completed by 337 participants
from Mexico (267 women, 70 men) and 192 White participants from the U.S. (108 women, 83 men, and 1
who did not report gender adult). Mexican respondents scored statistically significantly higher on Cognitive
Reappraisal than did U.S. participants. Mexicans also scored statistically significantly lower on the Conflict
and Expressiveness subscales of the FES. Regression analyses showed that higher scores on Cohesion and
lower scores on Expressiveness among Mexicans were related to higher scores on Cognitive Reappraisal
and lower scores on Expressive Suppression. Women in both countries scored statistically significantly
lower on Expressive Suppression and higher on Cognitive Reappraisal than did men. These findings
highlight how specific cultural, familial, and gender factors predict critical emotion regulation processes.
Recommendations for future research and intervention are discussed.