A Sequential Explanatory Study on the Expressive Suppression of Academic Stress among College of Arts and Sciences Students

Abstract

The current research was carried out to explore the use of expressive suppression in regulating academic stress experienced by College of Arts and Sciences students from the University of the Philippines Manila. A Sequential Explanatory study was applied and 277 students from 10 programs enrolled during the Second Semester of School Year 2018-2019 were chosen through purposive sampling. Quantitative data were collected by validated survey questionnaires, consisting of three sections: adapted and modified Survey of College Academic Stressors (Calaguas, 2012), expressive suppression of academic stress, and factors that influence participants‟ use of expressive suppression such as socio-demographic characteristics, display rule perceptions and adherence to Asian cultural values. Eight (8) respondents who have a high level of academic stress with mild or severe use of the said emotion regulation strategy were chosen as key informants. In total, 86.6% of students were reported to experience a moderate level of academic stress. However, 68.6% of the respondents were highly stressed regarding expectations to perform well in academics. Results also showed that 257 (92.78%) participants were using expressive suppression and 24 (9.3%) students are using this emotion regulation strategy severely. Factors influencing use of expressive suppression include personality, social perception, social consequences, and cultural expectations.