Prior research has established that the “social sharing” of emotions is an integral part of an emotional experience. Whereas earlier studies have focused on universal features of sharing (e.g., rate, frequency, delay), this study investigates social and relational aspects of sharing hypothesized to be more open to cultural variation. A total of 555 adolescents from the Indian, immigrant Indian, and the English culture recalled episodes of fear, shame, and sadness, and answered questions related to the sharing of these experiences. Results revealed that each of these emotions is associated with sharing patterns that are unique to them. The cross- cultural differences in sharing evidenced related to a greater importance and implication of the ingroup in the emotional lives of adolescents in the Indian and immigrant Indian adolescent groups, as compared to the English adolescents.
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