The Comparison of the Emotional Reactivity and Theory of Mind of girls based on Mothers' Emotional Expression Styles

The aim of this study was to compare emotional reactivity and children's theory of mind based on their mothers' emotional expression styles. The research method was descriptive causal-comparative and was conducted online in two steps. First, using available sampling method, 105 mothers whose scores were a standard deviation above average in each of the emotional expressiveness (King and Emmons, 1990), Ambivalence over emotional expressiveness (King and Emmons, 1990) and Emotional Control (Roger and Nashvor, 1987) questionnaires (35 people in each group), entered the second step. In the second step, for the 10-12-year-old girls of these mothers, the Theory of Mind (Muris, 1999; Baron Cohen, 2001) and Emotional Reactivity (Nock, 2008) Questionnaires were administered. Data were analyzed by analysis of variance and Pearson correlation coefficient. The results showed that children's emotional reactivity with mothers with control and emotional ambivalence styles are order higher than emotional expressiveness style and the scores of children's theory of minds (p = 0.001) with mothers with emotional control and emotional ambivalence styles are order lower than emotional expression style. The explanation of the findings shows that in the emotional control style due to the suppression of emotions, children have more emotional reactivity and the ability to process of emotions in them is lower, while in the emotional expression style, the balance of emotional expression makes the child has high emotional awareness and can better communicate with others.