Culture and the Individual Emotions and Motivation

Studying Emotion Three theoretical approaches: Innate, evolutionarily based set of basic emotions that are the same in all human beings regardless of culture. Emotions as reflections of culturally based experiences that differ in important ways from those in other cultures. Componential analysis of emotions breaks down emotions to see whether particular components fall into one or the other of the above.

Emotion Terminology Basic emotion = the most frequently selected emotions in Western Society Blended emotion = a category of emotion that combines two or more of the basic emotions Social emotions = emotions that depend on the presence of others (eg. Shame, guilt, love) Categorization of emotions in these ways is controversial. Eg. Shame, guilt and love are considered to be basic emotions by some researchers.

Universal Basic Emotions Ekman’s Research The Fore in New Guinea Facial expressions as a psycho-physiological characteristic of emotion Emotion specific muscular patterns in the face People were asked to indicate one of three photos that showed what a person’s face would look like in a particular situation People were asked to make an expression appropriate to a specified situation and were photographed. Results showed that the Fore selected and used the same facial expressions as Westerners. Six unblended, basic emotions were established: happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise and disgust These were the most consistently selected emotions in West

Universal Basic Emotions Ekman’s Research Research in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Japan and the U.S. Individuals shown a single photo of one of the six basic emotions Given a set of six emotion terms in their languages and asked to select the term that applied. No significant differences were found between cultures Photos were from the US A problem was that exposure to American media might have prejudiced the responses New individuals among the Fore and also the Dani (New Guinea) were exposed to the photos and asked to label them They labeled the photos as would Westerners 80% of the time. Confusion between anger and surprise) Conclusion is that the less exposure to Western culture, the lower the correspondence of emotion labeling

Universal Basic Emotions Ekman’s Research Forced choice (closed ended responces) Western studies used university students in literate societies Photos were presented without context Only basic emotion responses were offered

Dimensional Quality of Emotions Osgood’s Research The Semantic Differential Method Present a word Ask participants to rate that word on one or more dimensions EG. Aggression Positive Negative Strong Weak Active Passive Its rating on these dimensions becomes its “affective meaning.”

Dimensional Quality of Emotions Osgood’s Research As applied to emotion words: Anger (basic) Positive Negative Strong Weak Active Passive Frustration (blended) Positive Negative Strong Weak Active Passive Contentment (blended) Positive Negative Strong Weak Active Passive

Vocal Expression of Emotion Speech samples with emotional intonation were altered so that the words were intelligible, but the intonation remained English speaking Canadians, Native Americans and Mexicans recognized emotions at better than chance level Peformance for English-speaking Canadians and Native Americans was better in their own language Mexicans did better in Canadian English than did Canadians Dutch, Taiwanese and Japanese using a Dutch phrase Dutch did much better, but all recognized emotions at better than chance levels Emotions were easier to confuse with other emotions if they were high activation emotions.

Emotion Display Rules Conventions about showing emotions in public settings Japanese and US students were shown movies and videotaped both alone and when the experimenter was present Both showed similar emotions to movie content Japanese students showed less emotion when experimenter was present

Emotion Display Rules Conventions about showing emotions in public settings US, Hungarian and Polish participants Asked how appropriate it is to show each of the six basic emotions 1. when alone 2. in the company of in-group individuals 3. with outsiders Eastern Europeans said more appropriate to show positive emotions with insiders and less appropriate to show negative emotions with outsiders than US participants

Gestures and Emotion Categories of gestures 1. Adaptors = movements connected with bodily needs and interpersonal contacts (scratch nose) 2. Regulators = play a role in talking and listening turn taking (nodding head) 3. Illustrators = serve to underline or depict what is being said (pointing) 4. Emblems have a cognitive meaning by themselves (shrug) Referential emblems = those whose meaning is directly tied to the gesture Conventional emblems = those whose meaning depends on cultural content Dutch individuals could interpret Chinese gestures when they were referential emblems

Emotions as Cultural States Catherine Lutz’s Research Ifaluk, South Pacific “fago” = compassion, love and sadness “song” = justifiable anger Social construction of emotions Emotions as a transitory social role Renato Rosaldo’s Research Ilongot, Philippines “liget” = a form of anger combined with grief associated with head hunting Java, Indonesia Multiple words for shame in Javanese, only one in English Tahiti, South Pacific No word for “sadness” Language as the key to understanding cultural meanings overlaid on basic emotions

Components of Emotions Antecedents of emotion = events triggering the emotion Appraisal of events that leads to selection of emotion elicited 1. attention to change or novelty 2. pleasantness vs unpleasantness 3. certainty vs uncertainty 4. sense of control or agency Motor expressions Physiological symptoms Subjective feelings Social Sharing of emotions

Components of Emotions Antecedents of emotion Research shows that there is no difference in the antecedent events that lead to specific emotions Appraisal of events that leads to selection of emotion elicited Research shows that US, European and Japanese showed differences in the how they reacted to the same situations Japanese showed significantly lower reactivity US showed significantly higher reactivity Physiological Symptoms The same physiological symptoms characterize more than one emotional state Increased heart rate, rapid breathing, increased blood pressure, etc can characterize anger, fear, excitement

Motivation Authoritative fathers yield low achievement boys Religious belief that your individualistic group is superior to others yields high achievement motivation High status mobility leads to high achievement motivation and vice versa Father absence associated with immediate gratification Father present associated with delayed gratification Delayed gratification associated with high achievement motivation, long term goal directedness, future orientation, high individual autonomy