236 college students completed Coopersmith's Self-esteem Inventory and Taylor's 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale As predicted, the total scores on self-esteem and alexithymia were significantly negatively correlated −.42. Two factors of the subjects' orientations of alexithymia, difficulty recognizing and verbalizing feelings and difficulty describing feelings, explained 19% of the variance associated with self-esteem. These results suggest a negative association between difficulty in expressing emotions and college students' self-rated self-esteem.
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