Examining the relation among high school students' levels of suppressing emotional expression, cognitive reappraisal and subjective happiness: A model proposal

The aim of this research is to examine the relation among high school students' levels of suppressing emotional expression, cognitive reappraisal and subjective happiness. 647 students studying at high school level participated in this study. Data related to suppressing emotional expression and cognitive reappraisal was obtained via Emotional Regulation Scale which was developed by Gross and John (2003) and adapted into Turkish by Yurtsever (2008), and data related to subjective happiness levels was obtained from Subjective Happiness Scale which was developed by Lyubomirsky and Lepper (1999) and adapted into Turkish by Akın and Satıcı (2011). Additionally, the students' demographic information was obtained via Personal Information Form which was prepared by the researcher. Data was analysed with SPSS 20 and AMOS 21 statistical programmes in computer environment. Prior to answering the questions of the research, a series of covariance analyses (ANCOVA) were conducted in order to query the possible effects of demographic variables (gender, grade and school type) on the research variables. The effects of the students ' family income situations were checked out in the analyses. With the aim of answering the questions determined in the research, correlation analysis and a series of structural equation modeling were performed based on the latent variables. The findings of the research have shown that the students ' suppressing emotional expression, cognitive reappraisal and subjective happiness levels correlated with each other significantly. Besides, it has been concluded that the model, in which the students ' cognitive reappraisal played a mediator role between their suppressing emotional expression and subjective happiness, showed a good fit. Educational inferences and future researches were also discussed in the research.