Results of the Unscientific Emotion & church survey

Back in October, I created a brief "Emotions" survey on Survey Monkey. I was trying to get a handle on how people viewed emotions, especially as it came to church life. Someone recently asked me about it, and I thought this would be the easiest way to share the results:

There were 82 respondents (actually not bad) given where I shared it, etc.

1. Would you describe yourself as an emotional person? 

• Yes definitely (44, 53.6%)
• Yes, but only in certain circumstances (32, 39%)
• No, I almost never become emotional (6, 7.3%)
• I don't know (0, 0%)

2. Were your parents emotional?

• Yes, they were both emotional (27, 33.3%)
• My mother was emotional, but my father was not  [or was absent] (25, 30.8%)
• Neither of them were emotional (22, 27%)
• My father was emotional, but my mother was not [or was absent] (7, 8.6%)

3. Which of the following statements best describes your understanding of emotion? 

• Emotional expression is a sign of healthy psychological functioning (74, 91.4%)
• The world would be better off if fewer people expressed their emotions openly (5, 6.2%)
• Emotions are a sign of weakness (2, 2.5%)

4. When other people express strong emotion around me...

• I feel honored that they are willing to open up (54, 66.7%)
• Other people's emotions make me mildly uncomfortable (17, 20.1%)
• I don't feel any different than normal (7, 8.6%)
• Other people's emotions make me extremely uncomfortable and I will escape the situation as soon as possible (3, 3.7%)

5. When I begin to feel strong emotion...

• I am willing to share with those I trust (55, 68%)
• I feel uncomfortable and try to set my mind on something else (16, 20%)
• I am willing to share with anyone (9, 11.1%)
• I don't experience strong emotion (1, 1.2%)

6. The more emotional a person is, the less capable of clear thinking he/she is.

• False (56, 70%)
• True (24, 30%)

7. A willingness to experience and express strong emotion can improve one's overall psychological health.

• True (72, 90%)
• False (8, 10%)

8. Which of the following statements do you think best described Jesus's earthly life? 

• He experienced strong emotions that he paid attention to along with other psychological capacities (75, 92.6%)
• He experienced some strong emotions, but mostly he paid little attention to his emotions (6, 7.4%)
• He was never emotional (0, 0%)
• He was overly emotional (0, 0%)

9. When I think of emotions, I think of them as...

• Neither masculine nor feminine (66, 80.5%)
• mostly feminine (16, 19.5%)
• mostly masculine (0, 0%)

10. Most Christian churches...

• Seem confused by emotions (32, 41%)
• Don't pay enough attention to emotion (30, 38.5%)
• Discourage emotional expression (10, 12.8%)
• Pay too much attention to emotion (6, 7.7%)