Positive and Negative Emotions Among Young Romanian couples – What, How and Why to Express Them

The purpose of the study was to explore the positive and negative emotions of young Romanian couples in terms of what do they usually express, how they consider is adequate to express them and what are the reasons for which they consider expressing them. 98 participants (57women and 45 men; age M = 26.4, minimum 20, maximum 45 years old) responded, more than 350 words/ expression were analyzed for each of the considered topics.Results show that the Romanian specific cultural heritance prevails – young Romania couples face difficulties in recognizing and expressing their emotions, even though they are aware of the related benefits. Gender differences still need to be furthered explored, but confirm the enforced alexithymia mainly upon men.