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Meta-emotion refers to the emotional reactions to one's own emotions (second-order emotions about primary emotions). An example would be being angry (the primary emotion) and being afraid of one's anger (the meta-emotion). Meta-emotions can be short-term or long-term. The latter can be a source of discouragement or even psychological repression, or encouragement of specific emotions, having implications for personality traits, psychodynamics, family and group dynamics, organizational climate, emotional disorders, but also emotional awareness, and emotional intelligence. Meta-emotion was first defined by Gottman et al. in 1996, encompasing both thoughts and feelings about emotions.[1] Initial studies examined how parents discussed the emotions of their children and their attitudes towards these emotions.[2] The theory of meta-emotions was an unexpected result of their initial work.

Beginning of my work

According to Gottman et al., who first defined it in 1996, the term meta-emotion does not merely refer to an individual's emotional reactions to his or her own emotions, but more broadly, it encompasses both feelings and thoughts about emotion. Gottman et al. (1996) use the term meta-emotion philosophy to refer to "executive functions of emotion" (243). [1] Initial studies examined how parents discussed the emotions of their children and their attitudes towards these emotions.[2] The theory of meta-emotions was an unexpected result of their initial work. In 1997, Gottman, Katz, & Hooven used the term meta-emotion to describe parents' reactions to their children's emotional displays [INSERT REF Mitmansgruber]. Greenberg (2002) suggested that meta-emotions be considered a type of "secondary emotion," a temporal concept in which a secondary emotion follows a primary emotion. For example, anxiety (the secondary emotion) may follow anger (the primary emotion). [INSERT REFERENCE]. Ferrari & Koyama (2002) further examine the influence of meta-emotions on how individuals interpret and deal with their own and others' emotions...

Parental meta-emotion philosophy

Origins

The term meta-emotion was unexpectedly coined as a result of the initial work of Gottman et al. (1996). For years, developmental psychology research has focused on parental affect, responsiveness, and and parenting style. Gottman, Katz, & Hooven (1996) believed that there was not enough attention given to parents' feelings and thoughts about their own emotions and their children's emotions. While researching the effects of parents' marital relationship on children, Gottman et al. (1996) found that there was a large variety of different attitudes and philosophies that parents held about their own emotions and their children's emotions. In order to examine these differences, Katz & Gottman (1986) developed a meta-emotion interview and deemed the term "meta-emotion structure," to refer to parents' feelings about feelings. They believed that meta-emotion was a "pervasive and understudied dimension in emotion research" (250). Katz & Gottman (1986) paralleled their concept of meta-emotion with that of the meta-cognition construct Metacognition [REFERENCE HOOVEN 1995).

Definitions and Types

Hooven, Gottman, & Katz (1995) used the term "meta-emotion structure" to refer to: "the parents' awareness of specific emotions, their awareness and acceptance of these emotions in their child, and their coaching of the emotion in their child" (231). The results of their study demonstrated that parental meta-emotion variables were related to their abilities to both interact with their children and resolve marital conflict.

In their paper published in 1996, Gottman, Katz & Hooven outline different types of parental meta-emotion philosophy. These include emotion-coaching philosophy and a dismissing meta-emotion philosophy. Parents who follow an emotion-coaching philosophy tend to be aware of their emotions and the emotions of others, are able to talk about these emotions, and who help their children understand and express their emotions, particularly sadness and anger. The authors found a distinction between emotion-coaching philosophy and parental warmth. On the other hand, parents with a dismissing meta-emotion philosophy feel as though their child's anger or sadness could be harmful to their child, that their primary job is to alleviate this harmful emotions as quickly as possible, and that their child should know that these negative emotions would not last. These parents believe that ignoring or denying negative emotions is the best approach to helping their children. Parents with a dismissing meta-emotion philosophy were unable to provide insight into their child's emotions and did not view negative emotions as an opportunity for growth or intimacy. Gottman, Katz & Hooven (1996) suggested that parents' own feelings and thoughts about their emotions strongly influence the ways in which they parent.

Baker, Fenning, & Crnic (2010) defined meta-emotion philosophy as "parental attitudes toward emotion." These authors also supported the idea of two major meta-emotion philosophies: emotion-coaching philosophy in which the parents are comfortable with the emotions of themselves and their children, and an emotion-dismissing philosophy in which parents view negative emotions as harmful. [insert reference]

Parental Meta-Emotion Philosophies and Adolescents

There have been many studies examining the impact of different parental meta-emotion philosophies on adolescents. For example, researchers have studied the relation between meta-emotion philosophy and adolescent depression, as well as the impact of parental meta-emotion on adolescent affect and coping skills.

Hunter et al. (2011) examined the associations between the meta-emotion philosophies of fathers, mothers, and adolescents. They found that when parents held an emotion-coaching philosophy, the adolescents tended to have fewer behavioral and emotional issues. They concluded that: "The quality of the meta-emotion philosophy developed by adolescents may have implications for their mental health. In particular, evidence suggests that beliefs about emotion are relevant to depressive disorders, with negative beliefs associated with an increased risk for adolescent depression." Thus, these authors suggest that meta-emotion philosophy is related to adolescent depression and affect.