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Abstract
Sociologists are starting to understand emotions as a socially constructed phenomenon.
Research has been conducted to understand how emotions prevail in every environment,
whether it is academic, person, or work settings. However, there is a lack of information
gathered regarding emotions during critical transition periods. Based on previous
theoretical findings about emotions, there are particular ways students should emote
throughout their college experience. This study looks at the display of emotions at two
liberal arts colleges. Through survey and focus group research, this thesis found that the
colleges were much the same, and the expected differences in gender were not found. The
major difference was between the expression and suppression of emotion between
freshmen, sophomores, and upperclassmen.