关键词: 负性情绪自我表露, 同伴亲社会行为, 共情, 好感度

Abstract:

In response to emotional distress, individuals often turn to confiding—the act of disclosing negative emotions to others—to seek social support and alleviate internal burdens. While confiding offers emotional relief, it may also carry interpersonal benefits, such as enhancing empathy and fostering social bonds. However, little is known about how negative emotional self-disclosure influences prosocial behavior between peers, or what psychosocial mechanisms underlie this effect. Additionally, linguistic cues such as the use of first-person (“I”) versus third-person pronouns (“He/She”) may influence the impact of emotional disclosure by altering how disclosure is perceived and processed. The present study examines whether disclosing or listening to negative emotions promotes prosocial behavior in peer contexts, and how personal pronoun framing moderates this effect. Addressing these questions contributes to a deeper understanding of the social value of emotional expression, particularly in moments of vulnerability that invite connection and support.

Two experiments were conducted. Experiment 1 examined the discloser’s perspective, using a 2 (emotional disclosure: negative vs. neutral; within-subject) × 2 (personal pronoun: first-person vs. third-person; between-subject) mixed design. Participants took on the role of the discloser, narrating either negative or neutral emotional experiences in the first-person or third-person to a peer (played by an experimenter). They then reported their prosocial intentions, empathy, and liking toward their peers, and engagement with the disclosure process. Experiment 2 shifted to the listener’s perspective, using a fully within-subject 2 (emotional disclosure: negative vs. neutral) × 2 (personal pronoun: first-person vs. third-person) design. Participants watched videos of peers narrating their emotional (negative or neutral) experiences framed with either first- or third-person pronouns, and then reported their prosocial intentions, empathy, and liking toward the discloser. Both experiments were conducted in controlled laboratory settings with adult participants, using validated self-report measures to assess prosociality.

Experiment 1 showed that participants reported significantly greater engagement when sharing negative emotions compared to neutral ones. Importantly, disclosing negative emotions led to increased prosocial behavior, but only in the first-person pronoun condition. The increased prosocial behavior was closely related to the enhanced interpersonal liking and a stronger sense of meaning during the disclosure. No such effect emerged in the third-person condition, indicating that linguistic self-involvement strengthens the social impact of confiding. Experiment 2 found that participants expressed higher levels of prosocial behavior, empathy, and liking after hearing negative (vs. neutral) emotional disclosures, regardless of pronoun type. Crucially, the prosocial gains were closely associated with elevated empathy and liking, suggesting these variables as potential mediators. While the effect of pronoun reference was not significant for listeners, the emotional valence of the disclosure played a decisive role. Together, these findings suggest that confiding—either as discloser or listener—can foster peer prosociality, but the underlying mechanisms may differ: disclosers benefit from personalization (via first-person framing), while listeners respond primarily to emotional authenticity.

This study reveals the positive social consequences of negative emotional self-disclosure. For disclosers, using first-person pronouns enhances this effect by increasing the sense of meaning, and interpersonal liking. For listeners, the content of the emotional experience—rather than linguistic framing—drives prosocial responses, which are closely linked to feelings of empathy and liking. These findings contribute to understanding the interpersonal value of emotional expression and offer practical insights into how linguistic and emotional cues can be harnessed to build social support, especially in emotionally challenging situations.

Key words: self-disclosure of negative emotion, peer prosocial behavior, empathy, liking