Alexithymia, Affect Intensity, and Correlations with Interpersonal Functioning and Relationships among Undergraduate Visual Art Students at Institutions of Art and Desig

This study aimed to increase understanding of the emotional and interpersonal experiences of undergraduate art and design students using the lens of alexithymia. Alexithymia is a diminished capacity to differentiate emotional states, use words to communicate feelings, analyze and explain emotional arousal, feel emotionally stimulated, and fantasize. This study examined the dimensions of alexithymia, factors of affect intensity, and interpersonal problems of 536 full-time undergraduate students studying at institutions of art and design across the United States. Both students in the fine arts and in the design and applied arts demonstrated significantly more difficulty than a previous sample of US college students in their ability to identify and communicate their emotions. However, comparatively, they did not demonstrate difficulty becoming emotionally aroused and demonstrated greater ability to fantasize. Although art and design students demonstrated significant difficulties in the cognitive treatment of their emotions, on a scale of affect intensity they demonstrated greater intensity of emotional experiences along some factors. Students' deficit in identifying emotions was found to relate with negative affect intensity and deficits verbalizing emotions was found to relate with lower scores of positive affect. Less difficulty experiencing emotional arousal also was related to experiences of greater intensity for negative affect. Some significant differences were noted between students studying within the fine arts and those studying within design or applied arts, between male and female students, between domestic students and international students, and between students based on psychotherapy history. The sample of art and design students also reported significantly higher levels of total interpersonal distress than the previous US college sample. The interpersonal problem of social avoidance was determined to be the most elevated pattern among art and design students, followed by interpersonal distance and lack of affiliation, and non-assertive and submissive patterns. Significant relationships were found between some of the alexithymia dimensions and interpersonal problems. Implications for therapists and student affairs professionals were generated from the data and connected to previous literature emphasizing insecure attachment patterns and personality types. The research promotes future studies focusing upon the population of art and design students.