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Prohibition on Expressing Feelings3

Prohibition on Expressing Feelings Test

Understand how freely you experience and express sadness, anger, fear, and joy in just 5 minutes. This 25-item screen quickly flags where emotions get held back, supporting clearer coping and healthier boundaries.

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Questions: 255 minutes

08:30

October 2, 2025

October 2, 2025
Material has been updated

October 2, 2025
Material has been published

27,833 views

1,575 completions

1,261 likes

Verified by Daniel Hall

Psychologist with 25 years of experience

Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

example score

14/20

General Prohibition (GP)

This scale measures the overall tendency to inhibit or hold back the expression of emotions across situations.

Low inhibition

Moderate inhibition

High inhibition

5 – 9: Low inhibition | 10 – 14: Moderate inhibition | 15 – 20: High inhibition

A score of 14 falls in the Moderate inhibition range, suggesting a noticeable but not extreme tendency to restrain emotional expression.

example score

12/20

Fear (F)

This scale measures how strongly a person inhibits the expression of fear and anxiety-related feelings.

Low inhibition

Moderate inhibition

High inhibition

5 – 9: Low inhibition | 10 – 14: Moderate inhibition | 15 – 20: High inhibition

A score of 12 indicates a moderate tendency to hold back or conceal expressions of fear or apprehension.

example score

10/20

Sadness (S)

Measures how strongly a person inhibits the outward expression of sadness or grief.

Low inhibition

Moderate inhibition

High inhibition

5 – 9: Low inhibition | 10 – 14: Moderate inhibition | 15 – 20: High inhibition

A score of 10 suggests a moderate tendency to hold back expressions of sadness in some situations.

example score

46/100

Prohibition on Expressing Feelings (PoEF)

Measures the overall degree to which a person inhibits expressing emotions in behavior and communication.

Low inhibition

Moderate inhibition

High inhibition

25 – 49: Low inhibition | 50 – 74: Moderate inhibition | 75 – 100: High inhibition

A score of 46 indicates relatively low overall inhibition, suggesting emotions are generally allowed and expressed with only occasional restraint.

example score

17/20

Joy (J)

Measures how strongly a person restricts or inhibits the expression of joy and other positive emotions.

Low restriction

Moderate restriction

High restriction

5 – 9: Low restriction | 10 – 14: Moderate restriction | 15 – 20: High restriction

A score of 17 falls in the High restriction range, suggesting you may often hold back from showing joy openly even when you feel it.

example score

12/20

Anger (A)

Measures how strongly a person inhibits or suppresses the outward expression of anger.

Low inhibition

Moderate inhibition

High inhibition

5 – 9: Low inhibition | 10 – 14: Moderate inhibition | 15 – 20: High inhibition

A score of 12 indicates a moderate tendency to hold back or conceal anger rather than express it openly.

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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

Self-improvers feeling stuck

41%OF USERS

People who notice they bottle things up and want a quick read on which emotions—sadness, anger, fear, or joy—they most often suppress.

Therapy and counseling clients

34%OF USERS

Clients starting or ongoing in counseling who want to clarify emotional blockages that may affect communication, boundaries, and coping under stress.

Psychologists and researchers

25%OF USERS

Professionals using a brief screening to identify patterns of emotional restraint and guide follow-up questions or intervention planning.

BASED ON AGGREGATED, ANONYMIZED DATA FROM TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FREUDLY USERS.

Benchmarking

See How You Compare

Once you complete the test, your results are compared with real-world data from people in your country.
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.

General Prohibition (GP)

Average

14.3

Normal range

12.4 — 16.2

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Fear (F)

Average

14.8

Normal range

12.6 — 16.9

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Sadness (S)

Average

10.4

Normal range

7.7 — 13.1

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Ban on Expressing Emotions (BoEE)

Average

57.1

Normal range

44.5 — 69.6

min.

max.

100

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Joy (J)

Average

16.2

Normal range

13.9 — 18.6

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Anger (A)

Average

15.7

Normal range

13.5 — 17.8

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

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SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

- Definitely yes
- Probably yes
- Probably not
- Definitely not
- Definitely yes
- Probably yes
- Probably not
- Definitely not
- Definitely yes
- Probably yes
- Probably no
- Definitely no

These are 3 of the 25 real questions — the rest appear in the test. No sign-up needed to start.

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WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

About This Assessment

Prohibition on Expressing Feelings, PEF Test

Prohibition on Expressing Feelings Test - Symptoms and Signs

emotionality

This self-report measure assesses attitudes and prohibitions related to emotional expression. Prohibition on Expressing Feelings is administered as a brief questionnaire focused on the extent to which an individual tends to restrict the outward expression of common emotions (e.g., sadness, anger, fear, and joy). It was developed by James J. Gross, Peter Salovey, and John D. Mayer.

The instrument contains 25 items and typically requires about 5 minutes to complete. Responses are used to characterize relative tendencies to inhibit or permit emotional expression across domains, which may inform clinical formulation or research on emotion regulation patterns. Prohibition on Expressing Feelings is intended as an adjunct to broader assessment and should be interpreted in context with other clinical information.

Author: James J. Gross, John D. Mayer, Peter Salovey

Literature: Gross, J. J. Emotion regulation: Conceptual and empirical foundations. In J. J. Gross (Ed.), Handbook of emotion regulation. Guilford Press. 2014.