Emotional expression in healthy women and those with breast cancer

The Rationality/Emotional Defensiveness (R/ED) and Weed for Harmony (N/H) scales developed by Spielberger were administered to 311 women with breast cancer and 103 healthy women. Women with breast cancer were assessed after diagnosis (74), during treatment(105) and during follow-up, approximately 12 months after treatment (132). Women with breast cancer had substantially higher scores than healthy women in rationality and emotional defensiveness (or anti-emotionality), and need for harmony. All comparisons were less than p < .0000. Rationality/emotional defensiveness and need for harmony scores classified correctly 86 per cent of the participants (87 per cent of the breast cancer patients and 82 per cent of the healthy participants). Although older participants in both groups had higher scores on R/EM and N/H, women with breast cancer had higher scores than healthy women if age was controlled for. Results support previous studies, and are in accordance with other findings showing that breast cancer patients tend to suppress, inhibit, repress or deny their emotions, as well as are ready to sacrifice their needs in order to achieve and maintain harmonious interpersonal relationships.