Are Emotions Understood Across Cultures?

by | Last updated on January 24, 2024

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Research on cultural differences in the decoding of emotions generally concludes that so-called basic emotions, which include both anger and sadness,

are indeed recognized across cultures at above chance levels

(Elfenbein and Ambady, 2002; Hess and Thibault, 2009).

Are emotions the same across the world?

In other words,

emotions are experienced in very similar ways across most cultures

. So, what you feel when you experience, say, sadness is not all that different from what people in very different cultures across the globe feel when they experience the same emotion.

How are emotions similar across cultures?

In addition, similar emotions are

experienced in similar situations across cultures

. In a study conducted by Matsumoto and colleagues,

7

Japanese and American participants reported to feel happiness, pleasure, sadness, and anger in similar situations. … However, culture also influences emotion in various ways.

Are there basic emotions that are common to all cultures?

“People from both groups seemed to find the basic emotions –

anger, fear, disgust, amusement, sadness and surprise

– the most easily recognizable,” says Professor Scott, a Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow. “This suggests that these emotions – and their vocalizations – are similar across all human cultures.”

Are some cultures more emotional?


People in different cultures acquire different emotions

. For example, people in many Western contexts may think of shame as a bad emotion. … You can’t say there was shame first, and then culture influenced it. Rather, the whole phenomenon of the emotion is different across cultures.

Do all humans feel emotions?

A long line of research suggests the answer is basically

“yes”

—humans appear to express certain fundamental emotions through universal facial expressions that are usually recognizable to people from other cultures. This seems to be true even across cultures that have had little or no exposure to each other.

Are humans good or bad at recognizing emotion?


Good

(We’re good at detecting nonverbal cues and even better at detecting non-verbal threats). Women (Judith Hall [1984,1987] concluded after analyzing 125 studies of sensitivity to nonverbal cues concluded that women generally surpass men at reading people’s emotional cues when given “thin slices” of behavior.

Are emotions cultural?


Emotions are cultural phenomena

because we learn to have them in a cultural way. We don’t really know discrete emotions when we are born; we only distinguish between pleasant and unpleasant. In interacting with others, we learn to categorize and experience emotions in certain ways.

What is emotional contagion theory?

Emotional contagion refers to

the process in which an observed behavioral change in one individual leads to the reflexive production of the same behavior by other individuals in close proximity

, with the likely outcome of converging emotionally (Panksepp and Lahvis, 2011).

Are emotions universal or cultural?

While

emotions themselves are universal phenomena

, they are always influenced by culture. How emotions are experienced, expressed, perceived, and regulated varies as a function of culturally normative behavior by the surrounding society.

Why do Japanese not show emotion?


Japanese people tend to shy away from overt displays of emotion

, and rarely smile or frown with their mouths, Yuki explained, because the Japanese culture tends to emphasize conformity, humbleness and emotional suppression, traits that are thought to promote better relationships.

Are emotions biological?

Based on years of research, early emotion scientists gravitated towards a theory of universality:

Emotions are innate

, biologically driven reactions to certain challenges and opportunities, sculpted by evolution to help humans survive.

What are emotional display rules?

Emotional display rules refer to

cognitive representations of what individuals believe they should do with their facial expressions when feeling specific emotions in particular social situations

(Matsumoto 1990, 1993).

What is the strongest emotion?

Beihang University researchers studied 70 million Weibo %22tweets%22 over a six-month period%2C sorting them into the emotional categories of anger%2C joy%2C sadness%2C and disgust.

What disorder causes lack of emotions?

As a condition marked by lack of feelings, it can be difficult to recognize the symptoms of

alexithymia

. Since this condition is associated with an inability to express feelings, an affected person might come across as being out of touch or apathetic.

What kind of person has no empathy?


Psychopathy

is a personality disorder characterized by a lack of empathy and remorse, shallow affect, glibness, manipulation and callousness. Previous research indicates that the rate of psychopathy in prisons is around 23%, greater than the average population which is around 1%.

Timothy Chehowski
Author
Timothy Chehowski
Timothy Chehowski is a travel writer and photographer with over 10 years of experience exploring the world. He has visited over 50 countries and has a passion for discovering off-the-beaten-path destinations and hidden gems. Juan's writing and photography have been featured in various travel publications.