Motives for the social sharing of an emotional experience

Previous studies demonstrated that people socially share both their positive and negative emotional experiences. This article reports two studies aimed to clarify and assess the motives underlying this human propensity to share emotions. A large number of motives were collected from 182 participants (Study 1). A content analysis resulted in 8 categories of motives; 72 representative items were retained to create a Social Sharing Motives Scale (SSMS). The final structure of the SSMS, tested with 719 respondents, includes 39 items organized into 7 factors, namely clarification and meaning, rehearsing, venting, arousing empathy/attention, informing and/or warning, assistance/support and comfort/consolation, and advice and solutions (Study 2). This scale will usefully contribute to the investigation of the role played by interpersonal processes in emotional regulation.