African American and European American Mothers' Beliefs About Negative Emotions and Emotion Socialization Practices

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Mothers' beliefs about their children's negative emotions and their emotion socialization practices were examined. DESIGN: Sixty-five African American and 137 European American mothers of 5-year-old children reported their beliefs and typical responses to children's negative emotions, and mothers' emotion teaching practices were observed. RESULTS: African American mothers reported that the display of negative emotions was less acceptable than European American mothers, and African American mothers of boys perceived the most negative social consequences for the display of negative emotions. African American mothers reported fewer supportive responses to children's negative emotions than European Americans and more nonsupportive responses to children's anger. African American mothers of boys also reported more nonsupportive responses to submissive negative emotions than African American mothers of girls. However, no differences were found by ethnicity or child gender in observed teaching about emotions. Group differences in mothers' responses to negative emotions were explained, in part, by mothers' beliefs about emotions. CONCLUSIONS: Differences in beliefs and practices may reflect African American mothers' efforts to protect their children from discrimination.