L6 Emotion is Cultural Flashcards
(30 cards)
Are emotions the property of individuals at all?
Been argued that emotions are located between rather than inside people
Emotions extend towards others e.g. love and anger or contract from others e.g. desire or fear
What can similarities in emotion in a group arise from?
Exposure to the same events Mutual influence Shared norms and values Identifying with the group Requirement to feel or express a particular emotion in the group
What is intergroup emotion?
Emotions arising in one group that concern another group e.g. intergroup fear
What is the intergroup emotion theory (Smith, 1993)?
Intergroup emotions are experienced by individuals when they identify with a social group, making the group part of the psychological self
The specific intergroup emotions depend on the perceived competence and warmth of the target group
What do different levels of perceived competence and warmth elicit?
Low competence, low warmth elicits contempt (e.g. welfare recipients)
Low competence, high warmth elicits pity (e.g. elderly)
High competence, low warmth elicits envy (e.g. the rich)
High competence, high warmth elicits pride (e.g. emergency services)
What can be seen surrounding prejudice and conflict between groups?
It may be possible to recast prejudice in terms of intergroup emotion i.e. not just attitudinal
Emotions posed for an in group are clearer so there is greater potential for misunderstanding with an out group
Conflict involve rejecting another group and protecting own group from contamination, so usually better understood in terms of disgust and contempt rather than anger
What is collective guilt?
When individual thinks their group has done wrong to an out group but haven’t done it personally
What do cultural approaches view emotion as?
Values and concepts about the self are expressed in rituals, practices and institutions - these shape how members of particular societies experience emotion
Language of the culture plays a part in shaping the experience too
How are emotions social roles?
Some cultural approaches see that emotions are transitory roles that people play in order to fulfil culture-specific identities e.g. falling in love as a role that provides a transition between social relationships
What is the cultural approach regarding being self-construal?
Can construe oneself as independent or interdependent
This maps onto individualistic and collectivist cultures
What happens in an individualistic culture?
People may report being more emotional but the ANS may be the same
Emotions may be a stronger determinant of life satisfaction and the expression of happiness is associated with portraying success
What happens in a collectivist culture?
People are more likely to mask positive and negative feelings
This can mean they have more impact when they are displayed
People exert greater control over negative emotions with in group members but less likely to smile at an out group member
What are cultural differences in values of emotion?
Will be differences in the priority given to freedom, rights and equality
When a value is prioritised in a culture then emotions will relate to it
When monogamy is valued a lover will elicit jealousy and hatred but if it isn’t valued then those emotions are not elicited
How are different cultures guided?
Applies to affect, behaviour and cognition
East asian culture guided by a dialectical system that accepts contradictions e.g. Japanese more likely than west europeans to report feeling positive and negative emotions at the same time
What can be seen in cross-cultural comparisons of emotional expression?
Some cultures noticeably less expressive than others
Japanese and Americans show same expression to emotional stimulus if unobserved but different if observed
What cultural differences are there in emotion recognition?
Universal recognition of basic emotion expressions but the accuracy declines with more distance from Anglo-American culture
Could be due to translation problems or because those emotions are rarely displayed
Happiness most consistently recognised across cultures
What can be seen in emotion decoding across cultures?
Japanese rate the intensity of emotion as lower, but they compensate when rating the experience - because they follow cultural display rule than expression must be masked
Expressions are better interpreted by their own culture because rules are known
What are the causes of emotion across cultures?
Situations that give rise to emotions may be universal
But interdependent cultures are more likely to experience positive emotions in social situations but independent cultures more likely to experience them in relation to person accomplishments
How are responses to emotions different across cultures?
Expressing anger is associated with health risk in American samples but with reduced health risk in Japanese samples
May be due to source of anger
What can be said about the subjective well-being of nations?
Material wealth of a nation appears to be an important determinant of the life satisfaction of its people but its not important in determining their daily emotions
What is ethnography?
A method providing an in depth description of the social life as a culture
What did Lutz (1988) find about happiness in pacific islanders?
Their most valued emotion was ‘fago’ which involves a mix of compassion, love and sadness
It was observed that the appropriate response to a little girl showing happiness was ‘song’ (justifiable anger) because her response was inappropriately carefree
What has been found in sadness and grief across cultures?
There is considerable variation in how they display grief
Tahitians don’t display grief and use jokes instead
Crying varies across cultures from restrained to sobs and wails
How is the historical method used?
Involves studying cultural artefacts such as books, letters, art, film in order to understand cultural meaning and cultural shifts
