Early in life, feelings are usually expressed directly. Later, people may learn that certain emotions are not accepted and begin to replace them with safer substitute emotions.
Example: sadness is ignored, while anger gets attention. Over time, anger may appear where sadness would actually be appropriate.
This can hide true needs and make constructive solutions more difficult. Reducing substitute feelings is therefore an important development goal.
[1] Studies on deprivation in infancy showed that reliable emotional care is essential for development and survival.