REACTIONS TO AND WILLINGNESS TO EXPRESS EMOTION IN COMMUNAL AND EXCHANGE RELATIONSHIPS

Based on the idea that emotion conveys information about the expressor's needs and on Clark and Mills' (1979) distinction between communal relationships and exchange relationships, it was hypothesized that: (a) expression of emotion (when not directed at the other) would be reacted to more favorably when communal than when exchange relationships were desired, and that (b) people would be more willing to express emotion in communal than in exchange relationships. In Study 1 subjects were led to desire a communal or an exchange relationship with another who expressed either happiness, sadness, irritability, or no emotion. Then liking for the other was assessed. When no emotion was expressed, there was no difference in liking for the other between the Communal and Exchange conditions. However, as predicted, when happiness, sadness, or irritability was expressed, liking was significantly greater when a communal rather than an exchange relationship was desired. In Study 2, subjects were paired with an existing friend (Communal conditions) or with a stranger (Exchange conditions) with whom they expected to have a conversation. They were given a list of possible topics some of which involved talking about emotional experiences and some of which did not. As predicted, subjects in the Communal condition indicated a greater preference for talking about emotional topics than did those in the Exchange condition. © 1991.