People sometimes evaluate emotions. For example, they are ashamed because they got angry. Or, to give another example, they feel that their sadness is important and necessary. The present study investigated people's negative and positive evaluations of their own emotions. In Study 1, university and vocational school students (N=558: 203 men, 338 women, gender not identified, 17) completed a questionnaire. A scale to measure the evaluation of emotions was developed, and its reliability and validity checked. Factor analysis of the scale yielded 3 factors: "negative self-conscious emotions about emotions," "necessity of emotions," and "sense of burden." Participants in Study 2 were 190 of the students from Study 1 (67 men, 108 women, 5 gender unidentified). In this analysis, the relation between their evaluation of their emotions and their difficulty in identifying and describing their emotions (alexithymia) was examined. The results of a multiple regression analysis revealed that the participants' negative evaluations of emotions ("negative self-conscious emotions about emotions" and "sense of burden") were related to their difficulty in identifying and describing their emotions. These findings suggest that the evaluation of emotions plays an important role in the function of emotions as signals.
