Emotion Socialization Behaviors and Child Outcomes: An Examination Across Generations

The main purpose of this research is to examine the predictors of emotion socialization behaviors. Within the framework of this purpose, environmental characteristics in which mothers’ grew up and individual characteristics that predict emotional socialization behaviors were investigated. Seventy-six grandmothers (Mean = 58.66, SD = 6.49) and mothers (Mean = 34.39, SD = 3.99) participated to the study. The findings of the study showed that mother’s dismissing meta-emotion philosophy and neuroticism predicted supportive emotion socialization behaviors negatively, nonsupportive emotion socialization behaviors positively; mothers’ suppression predicted supportive emotion socialization behaviors positively and nonsupportive emotion socialization behaviors negatively. Grandmothers’ supportive emotion socialization behaviors positively predicted mothers’ supportive emotion socialization behaviors. Grandmother’s nonsupportive emotion socialization behaviors positively predicted mothers’ nonsupportive emotion socialization behaviors. In conclusion, the present study contributed to the literature in terms of being the first study to examine intergenerational transmission of emotion socialization behaviors by attending both grandmothers and mothers.