Can we always show our positive emotions to others?

Social norms dictate when we can express our emotions and to whom. These norms are much stronger for negative emotions than for positive ones. Does this mean that we can always express positive emotions, and to everyone? No, state psychology researchers from the University of Amsterdam who mapped expression norms for eight positive emotions. Sensory pleasure, feeling moved and triumph have relatively restrictive social norms governing their expressions. These findings are now published in 'Emotion.' Our emotions play a key role in shaping our behaviour. How we feel influences the way we see ourselves, the choices we make, and how we react to other people. For long, research focused on the role of negative emotions, but more recently attention has turned to positive emotions.