| The present study examines the links between parental meta-emotion philosophy and mother-adolescent relationships, as well as young adult intrapsychic relations. One hundred twenty two pairs of mother and young adult participated in the study. Mothers completed the Structural Analysis of Social Behavior (SASB) based on their behavior towards their child when he or she was 13 to 17 years old and an Emotion-Related Parenting Style questionnaire. Young adults completed the SASB based on their perception of their reactions to their mother when they were aged 13 to 17, and a SASB introject questionnaire at their current age. Mothers' emotion coaching style showed significant positive correlations with reciprocal affiliation in mother-adolescent relationships and young adult intrapsychic affiliation. Mothers' rejection of negative emotion style was positively correlated with reciprocal hostility in mother-adolescent relationships. Mothers' rejection of negative emotion style showed positive correlation with young adults' self-autonomy, and negative correlation with adolescents' reactive autonomy. Similarly, mothers' uncertainty/ineffectiveness in emotion socialization showed negative correlations with reciprocal affiliation, and positive correlations with reciprocal hostility. Moreover, multiple regression analysis suggested that adolescents' gender and mothers' education level are not strong predictors of emotion-related parenting styles. Findings indicated that parental meta-emotion philosophy has predictive value in parent-adolescent relationships and young adults' self-affiliation. Future studies are necessary to determine the causal relations between parental meta-emotion philosophy and individuals interpersonal and intrapsychic relations. |
