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Monika Wrobel, Ph.D.
M17. People Across Cultures: An Introduction to Cross-Cultural Psychology
#4
EMOTIONS AND
EMOTIONS AND
WELL
WELL
-
-
BEING
BEING
ACROSS CULTURES
ACROSS CULTURES
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Cross
Cross
-
-
cultural research on
cultural research on
emotions
emotions
Darwin’s “The Expression of Emotions in Man and
Animals”
Universality studies
Ekman’s research on universality of facial
expression
Argentina, Chile, Brazil, USA, Japan
the Fore
Heider’s replication (the Dani)
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Universal facial expression of
Universal facial expression of
emotions
emotions
Ekman’s studies
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universal expressions:
anger, disgust, happiness,
sadness, surprise, fear
the 1980s
contempt
recent studies
embarrassment
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Neurocultural
Neurocultural
theory
theory
Tomkins, Ekman & Friesen
Duchenne smile
Facial Action
Coding System
(
FACS
)
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Differences
Differences
in
in
emotion
emotion
recognition
recognition
No study ever reported perfect cross-cultural
agreement.
Matsumoto (1992)
Americans were better at recognizing
anger
,
disgust
,
fear
, and
sadness
than the Japanese;
accuracy rates did not differ for
happiness
or
surprise.
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Intensity ratings of facial
Intensity ratings of facial
expression
expression
When comparing
pairs of expressions
, people of
different cultures agree on which is more intense.
BUT
when people from different cultures rate
intensity of single emotions
on a scale
their
attributions differ:
intensity ratings are lower for the Asian respondents
than for the Western ones;
the differences are more significant in case of negative
emotions.
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Cultural display rules
Cultural display rules
Culturally prescribed rules, learned early in life, that
dictate the management and modification of the
universal expressions, depending on social
circumstances.
The experiment of Ekman an Friesen (1973)
emotional expression of the Japanese students vs.
emotional expression of the American students.
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Smile across cultures
Smile across cultures
(1)
(1)
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Smile across cultures
Smile across cultures
(2)
(2)
The expression of enjoyment or joy.
BUT
it may also hide negative feelings.
Asian cultures
Japanese tatemae
(= facade, mask)
Amrozi – „the
smiling bomber”
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American
American
vs
vs
.
.
Polish smile
Polish smile
(Szarota, 2006)
(Szarota, 2006)
AMERICAN SMILE
cheerfulness
- keep
smiling even for no
reason
friendliness
- be nice to
everyone
happiness
- even if
something bad happens,
try not to worry
POLISH SMILE
spontaneity
and
naturalness
- do not
express emotions that
you don’t feel
martyrdom
- be proud
of the terrible
experiences of your
descendants
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Cultural differences in subjective
Cultural differences in subjective
well
well
-
-
being (SWB)
being (SWB)
Suh, Diener, Oishi, & Triandis (1998)
43 nations
the mean life satisfaction ratings on a 7-point
scale ranged from 3.3 (China) to 5.4
(Netherlands)
nations also have different opinions on the
ideal levels of SWB
Brazilians (6.2) vs. the
Chinese (4.5)
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W
W
hy
hy
do cultural differences in
do cultural differences in
SWB occur?
SWB occur?
A strong correlation between GNP and SWB across nations
(r ≈ 0,80)
But this
"richer = happier" argument is incomplete
, because:
rich nations are not only economically better off, but they also
possess various non-materialistic characteristics that
contribute to SWB
there are exceptions that challenge the income explanation
(Japan vs. Puerto Rico)
after a certain income level, economic factors lose their
predictive power
Cultural explanations:
individualism/collectivism and
uncertainty avoidance
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Happiness in individualist and
Happiness in individualist and
collectivist cultures
collectivist cultures
INDIVIDUALISM
COLLECTIVISM
lack of strong social support
adverse life events might have
severe negative consequences
COSTS
there is less freedom to pursue
personally rewarding goals
BENEFITS
people freely choose personal
goals and lifestyles
strong social support may
protect against stressful events
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IDV
IDV
-
-
COL and happiness
COL and happiness
–
–
possible
possible
explanations
explanations
It might be more crucial to have a high sense of
personal choice and freedom than to have a
reliable social safety net during difficult times.
In individualist cultures each person feels
responsible for his/her happiness and tries harder
to be happy, while in many collectivist cultures
people are believed to have only limited control
over their happiness.