Date of Award

8-2016

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Psychology

Abstract

Emotional invalidation is the dismissal, minimization, or punishment of an individual’s emotional experience (Linehan, 1993). Although it has been sparsely studied, the research that has been conducted indicates that it is likely implicated in a multitude of psychopathology and adjustment issues. The current study had three main objectives. The first of these was to investigate the current perceptions of emotional invalidation in a peer interaction for emerging adults and how that is predicted by gender, perceptions of childhood emotional invalidation via caregivers, and gender of the caregivers. The second objective of this study was to investigate the propagation of emotionally invalidating behaviors into emerging adulthood and the roles that gender and perceived emotional invalidation via caregivers in childhood play within it. A final aim of the current study was to examine perceived emotional invalidation and emotionally invalidating behaviors and their ability to predict negative affect. Surprisingly, perceptions of childhood emotional invalidation and the gender of the adult providing the emotional invalidation during childhood did not predict current perceptions of emotional invalidation or the current use of emotionally invalidating behaviors. Limitations and implications of these findings are discussed below.

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