Cultural and Emotional Expression Scale for Filipino Youth (CEES-FY): A Psychological Tool for Understanding Emotional Awareness, Regulation, and Cultural Influences
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.67167/vertex.716Keywords:
emotional regulation, Filipino youth, cultural psychology, scale development, emotional intelligence, kapwa, pakikisama, hiya, utang na loob, psychological assessmentAbstract
Emotional awareness, regulation and expression are indicative factors of adolescent development, specifically in communities that are clearly rich in diverse forms of culture. The Cultural and Emotional Expression Scale for Filipino Youth (CEES-FY) was developed to make a thorough assessment with the unique emotional experiences of Filipino adolescents which will integrate cultural dimensions that largely influence emotional expression. Extensively drawn from Emotional Intelligence Theory (Salovey & Mayer, 1990) and Cultural Psychology and Emotion (Markus & Kitayama, 1991), the CEES-FY captures five key dimensions: Emotional Awareness, Emotional Regulation, Interpersonal Emotional Expression, Cultural Influences on Emotional Expression, and Emotional Coping and Family Bonds. The study employed a two-phase validation process which includes exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. It resulted in a 33-item scale with good internal reliability (α = 0.792). Findings suggest that Filipino adolescents’ emotional regulation is informed by cultural expectations, where values such kapwa (connectedness), pakikisama (social harmony), hiya (shame), and utang na loob (debt of gratitude) significantly influence how emotions are processed and expressed. The CEES-FY provides a responsive framework in appropriate alignment with culture for understanding adolescent emotional well-being, offering practical applications in psychological assessment, education and mental health interventions. It marks a solid progress not only in heightened awareness of how sociocultural influences greatly affect emotional development but also can act as an invaluable utility in research and practice to support adolescent mental health. This study offers new ground to encourage broader discussions on inclusive psychological assessment and culturally relevant actions by reorienting the focus on the overlap of culture and emotional regulation.
Downloads
References
Bowlby, J. (1988). A secure base: Parent-child attachment and healthy human development. Basic Books.
Boateng, G., Neilands, T., Frongillo, E., Melgar-Quinonez, H., & Young, S. (2018). Best Practices for Developing and Validating Scales for Health, Social, and Behavioral Research: A Primer. Font. Public Health, 6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2018.00149
Cabigon, J. (1999). Understanding Filipino Adolescents: Research Gaps and Challenges. Philippine Social Sciences Review, 56(1-4).
Cebu, J. C. (2023). Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Symptomatology as Aftereffect of Emotion Regulation in a Community Sample of Filipino Adolescents. East African Scholars Journal of Psychology and Behavioural Science, 5(4). DOI: 10.36349/easjpbs.2023.v05i04.005.
Cummings, E. M., & Davies, P. T. (2010). Marital conflict and children: An emotional security perspective. Guilford Press.
Goodman, R. (1997). Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). APA PsycTests. https://doi.org/10.1037/t00540-000
Gratz, K. L., & Roemer, L. (2004). Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS). APA PsycTests. https://doi.org/10.1037/t01029-000
Gross, J.J., & John, O.P. (2003). Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: Implications for affect, relationships, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 348-362.
Gross, J. J. (2015). Emotion regulation: Conceptual and practical issues. Guilford Press.
Javier, J., Galura, K., Aliganga, F. A., DO, J. S., & Palinkas, L. (2018). Voices of the Filipino Community Describing the Importance of Family in Understanding Adolescent Behavioral Health Needs. Family Community Health, 41(1), 64-71. DOI: 10.1097/FCH.0000000000000173.
Lane, R. & Smith, R. (2021). Levels of Emotional Awareness: Theory and Measurement of a Socio-Emotional Skill. National Library of Medicine, 9(3). doi: 10.3390/jintelligence9030042.
Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. Springer.
Limbadan, N. & Udarbe, M. H. (2012). Adolescents’ Emotional Awareness, Regulation, and Transformation: Emotion-Focused Therapy as Anger Management. Siliman University, 53(2).
Manalastas, G. A. (2023). Emotion Regulation Strategies and Internalizing/Externalizing Problems in Filipino Americans: The Moderating Role of Acculturation. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.calstate.edu/downloads/r781wq07z.
Markus, H.R. & Kitayama, S. (1991). Culture and the Self: Implications for Cognition, Emotion, and Motivation. American Psychological Association, Inc., 98(2), p. 224-253. Doi: 0033-295X/91/.
Morie KP, Crowley MJ, Mayes LC, & Potenza MN. (2023). The process of emotion identification: Considerations for psychiatric disorders. J Psychiatr Res. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2022.01.053.
Nicomedes, C. J., Gamad, M. J., Dinglasa, J. V., Manas, J., & Patricio, L. A. (2020). An Exploration of Filipino Resilience of Young Adults in the 21st Century. Research Gate. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.13317.63200.
Petrides, K. V., Frederickson, N., & Furnham, A. (2004). Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire--144 (TEIQue). APA PsycTests. https://doi.org/10.1037/t12409-000
Riggio, H. (2017). Emotional Expressiveness. Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_508-1.
Salovey, P. & Mayer, J. D. (1990). Emotional Intelligence. Sage Journals, 9(3). Doi: doi.org/10.2190/DUGG-P24E-52WK-6CD.
Schutte, N.S., Malouff, J.M., Hall, L.E., Haggerty, D.J., Cooper, J.T., Golden, C.J., et al. (1998). Development and validation of a measure of emotional intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences, 25, 167-177.
Shweder, R. A. & Haidt, J. (2000). The Cultural Psychology of the Emotions: Ancient and New. Handbook of Emotions, p. 397 – 410.
Steinberg, L. (2002). Adolescence. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.
Ti, Y. & Yang, J. (2021). The Social Nature of Emotion Expression: What Emotions Can Tell Us About the World. Frontiers in Psychology. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.686182.
Varnum, M. E. W., Grossman, I., Kitayama, S., & Nisbett, R. The Origin of Cultural Differences in Cognition: The Social Orientation Hypothesis. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 19(1), p. 9-13. Doi: 10.1177/0963721409359301.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 The International Review of Multidisciplinary Research
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
