Lecture 8: Emotions

Chapter 9: Culture and emotion

Emotions

Transient neurophysiological reactions to events that have consequences for our welfare and require an immediate behavioral response. They include:

• Feelings

• Physiological reactions

• Expressive behaviors

• Behavioral intentions

• Cognitive changes

Mood vs. Emotions

Mood is longer in duration than emotions, there does not have to be a clear trigger.

• With emotions, there is always a trigger that is interpreted in a certain way (triggers can also be internal, such as thoughts or memories).

  • This interpretation is the appraisal.

In psychology, emotions are believed to be …

Functional

What are the 2 types of emotions?

• Basic emotions: universal emotions, triggered by biological systems.

• Self-conscious emotions: involved in self-reflection, such as shame and guilt.

Model of emotion elicitation

Emotions are generally elicited the same way.

• It starts with a general trigger that causes us to scan our environment.

• When we observe something, we first determine what it means to us.

• Then we experience emotion.

• Emotion then manifests itself in behavior.

Paul Ekman has a … view of emotions

Universalist

Six basic emotions (Ekman)

• Anger

• Fear

• Disgust

• Surprise

• Joy

• Sadness

Universality based on the basic emotions

• Antecedents

• Physiology

• Subjective experience

• Recognition

• Coherence in emotional response

• Giving meaning

What are the 2 ways in which culture regulates basic emotions?

• Front-end calibration

• Calibration on the back end

Front-end calibration

Culture regulates what makes people emotional in the first place.

• The same event can evoke different emotions depending on culture.

Calibration on the back end

Culture regulates emotional displays and behaviors after emotions are triggered.

• There are cultural norms called cultural display rules that regulate how individuals from different cultures express (or fail to express) their emotions in different situations.

Cultural display rules

Culture-specific norms about whether and how emotions may be expressed, depending on the context.

What are the 6 ways in which cultural norms can influence the display of emotions?

• Deamplification: I experience emotion and express it less (show it off).

• Amplification: I experience emotion and express it more strongly (amplify it).

• Neutralization: I experience emotion and do not express it (make it disappear).

• Qualification: I experience emotion and attach another emotion label to it (add information).

• Masking/Hiding: I experience an emotion and display another emotion.

• Simulation: I do not experience an emotion, but I express one.

Friesen (1972) study on expression of disgust between American and Japanese participants

Expression of disgust similar for both groups when alone.

• With experimenter in the room, both groups tried to mask their disgust, but Americans did so for less time.

Display rules play an important role in how the same universal emotions are expressed in different situations.

Matsumoto (1991) study on how appropriate people find it to express a particular emotion in different contexts

When a person is alone, countries’ display rules are similar.

• BUT when social context changes, same differences emerge:

  • Individualistic cultures are higher in their expression, especially when it comes to positive emotions.

Matsumoto, Kasri & Kooken (1999) on cultural differences in decoding emotions or recognizing emotions among Americans and Japanese.

Participants were asked:

1) What the emotion was.

2) How intensely the emotion was expressed.

3) How intense the experience associated with the emotion was.

Results:

• Americans consider the expression of emotions to be more intense than the experience itself → Americans exaggerate the expression accompanying the experience.

  • For Japanese this is the same.

Difference American and Japanese participants in expressing emotions in social contexts

• Americans show their emotions more strongly, especially in individual contexts.

• Japanese are more likely to mask emotions in company.

Socially engaging

Emotions are based on interdependence and relationships with others, such as kindness, respect, sympathy, etc.

Socially disengaging

Emotions are based on independence and autonomy, such as pride, self-esteem or frustration.

Which type of emotion belongs to which culture?

• Sympathy and respect

• Autonomy and pride

• Socially engaging emotions → Collectivist cultures.

• Socially disengaging emotions → Individualistic cultures.

Emotional complexity

Positive and negative emotions can coexist.

What is emotional complexity linked to?

Dialectical thinking, if you can accept opposite thoughts, so can emotions.

Cultural construction of emotional experience

Cultural ideas differ, which can result in some emotions being more common or more likely to be accepted.

• Individualistic cultures: Common for you to learn about your own characteristics.

  • Being concerned with your own qualities → More likely to be proud.

  • People around you experience the same thing, making pride a commonly accepted emotion.

• Collectivist cultures: Group harmony and cooperation are central, modesty is valued more than pride.

  • People are focused on the group rather than own accomplishments.

    • Individual may experience feelings of gratitude or humility more quickly because the emphasis is on the contribution of others and cooperation within the group.

What are the 3 categories within emotions?

• Cultural-specific: emotions that are only described within certain cultures with a specific word.

  • ex. ‘gezellig’ in dutch.

• Hypercognition: identifying different variations in emotions and assigning words to them.

• Hypocognition: fewer variations in recognizing emotions.

Ideal affect vs. Real affect

There is a difference in ideal affect, what is preferably experienced according to the culture, and real affect, what everyone actually experiences.

• The recognition of certain emotions by culture does not exclude other cultures from experiencing them.

  • It only indicates that it is more important in one culture than another.