Parental Meta-Emotion Philosophy and the Emotional Life of Families Theoretical Models and Preliminary Data

• Published in: Journal of family psychology Vol. 10; no. 3; pp. 243 - 268
• Main Authors: Gottman, John M, Katz, Lynn Fainsilber, Hooven, Carole
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Psychological Association 01-09-1996
• Subjects: Childrearing Practices; Emotional Control; Emotional States; Families; Female; Human; Influences; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Meta-emotion
• ISSN: 0893-3200; 1939-1293
• DOI: 10.1037/0893-3200.10.3.243

This article introduces the concepts of parental
meta-emotion,
which refers to parents' emotions about their own and their children's emotions, and
meta-emotion philosophy,
which refers to an organized set of thoughts and metaphors, a philosophy, and an approach to one's own emotions and to one's children's emotions. In the context of a longitudinal study beginning when the children were 5 years old and ending when they were 8 years old, a theoretical model and path analytic models are presented that relate parental meta-emotion philosophy to parenting, to child regulatory physiology, to emotion regulation abilities in the child, and to child outcomes in middle childhood.