Contra-Hedonic Attitudes Toward Pleasant Emotions in China: Links to Hedonism, Emotion Expression, and Depression

Introduction: Contra-hedonic attitudes toward pleasant emotions are culturally dominant in Chinese culture, but less is known about its links with hedonism, emotion expression and depression. Method: We examined how attitudes toward pleasant emotions (measured by the Implicit Association Test) mediated the relation between hedonism and emotion expression (Study 1) and whether contra-hedonic attitudes toward pleasant emotions moderated the relation between emotion expression and depression (Study 2). Results: Chinese implicitly evaluated pleasant emotions as negative and valued hedonism less important in daily lives. As less important in Chinese culture, hedonism may shape individual emotion expression through the influence of implicit attitudes toward pleasant emotions. In line with prior research, emotion expression was associated with higher level of depression. However, this relation was moderated by the extent to which individual evaluated pleasant emotions as negative. Discussion: These findings highlight the importance of how people evaluate pleasant emotions to understand emotion expression and emotional states from a cultural perspective.