Which term describes lessening emotional expression to make them appear smaller?

• A. Mask
• B. Intensify
• C. Minimize
• D. Neutralize

Answer: (C)

Down-regulating outward emotional display means intentionally reducing how strongly you show your feelings so they appear less intense to others. When you minimize, you’re dialing down the visible side of your emotion, signaling calm or restraint even if you still feel something more intense inside. This is different from masking, which involves hiding the true emotion behind a different expression, or neutralizing, which aims to suppress expression altogether to nearly no outward cue. Intensifying would do the opposite by making the emotion more visible. So the term that fits the idea of making emotional expression appear smaller is minimizing.