Abstract

The current study examined the relationships between ambivalence over emotional expression (AE) and ‘positive/negative affect’ and ‘AE and depression’. Three potential moderators of ‘AE-Affect’ and ‘AE and depression’ relations were tested: extroversion, neuroticism, conscientiousness. During the examination, one hundred ninety-two undergraduates completed Ambivalence over Emotional Expressiveness Questionnaire- Korean(AEQ-K), Concise Measure of Subjective Well-Being(COMOSWB), Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) and Brief Symptom Inventory(BSI). Analyses revealed that individuals with ‘relationship-involved AE’ were not related to positive/negative affect and depression. In contrast, individuals with ‘self-defensive AE’ were negatively correlated with positive effect and positively correlated with negative effect and depression. The relations of ‘self-defensive AE-Affect’ and ‘self-defensive AE and depression’ were not different based on levels of extroversion or neuroticism. However, The relations of ‘self-defensive AE-Affect’ and ‘self- defensive AE and depression’ were stronger for students with high conscientiousness. Implications for self- defensive AE are discussed.