Lecture 2: Culture and Emotion Flashcards
What is culture?
“meanings, conceptions, and interpretive schemes that are activated, constructed, or brought ‘on-line’ through participation in normative social institutions and practices (including linguistic practices) … giving shape to the psychological processes in individuals in a society”
Define culture: system of meaning
Cultures are ways of interpreting, understanding, and explaining what is going on the world around us
what is culture through social participation?
appropriate behavior is defined, cued based on culturally defined norms, we learn from our social environ
how does culture give rise to psychological processes?
How we think, behave depends on the concepts we have learned
Do all languages have a word corresponding to emotion?
No, some languages may not have a word for something but have concepts that relate to that thing
Do some cultures have words that overlap in meaning for emotion? give examples.
Yes. Jodo (Japanese) - includes considerate, motivated, lucky, angry, happy, sad, ashamed
Semteende (Ifaluk) - refers to social situations in which people might feel embarrassement or shame, rather than the emotion itself
Does Tahitian have a word that corresponds with sadness? what is it?
Tahitian doesn’t have a word that corresponds to sadness
closest is pe’a pe’a - refers to sick fatique, troubled
How are the words sadness and Pe’a Pe’a similar?
both have loss of energy, social withdrawal, decreased motor activity, downcast expression
What causes sadness vs. Pe’a Pe’a? What does each require?
Sadness caused by - loss/absence of loved ones
Pe’a Pe’a caused by - infection, physical illness, or overwork
Sadness can require - cheering up, enjoyment, distraction
Pe’a Pe’a can require - medical attention, rest, chicken soup
How do emotions differ across cultures? give an example.
Different cultures interpret and express emotions differently
- e.g. expressing aggression is common in America
But, in Taiwan, it is common for them to have smile in times of anger and not show their aggression
- some cultures don’t have words like sadness or anxiety
Are emotions and thier interpretations universal?
no
Is our own concept of emotions shaped by our culture?
yes
What was the Swidler study?
what is the North American concept of romantic love?
- had middle class people in CA, semi-structured interviews
-asked about what real love means, their experiences, what makes a relationship good vs. bad
Result: 2 kinds: Hollywood love and Prosaic love
What was the Hollywood love?
concept 1:
love at 1st sight
partner unique, “the one”
based on destiny
flashy but shallow
What was the prosaic love?
concept 2:
love grows slowly over time
many possible partners
based on compatibility
deep, sure, and lasting
(matched personality, activity, interest)
What do these concepts tell us?
They are social constructs, they tell us how relationships are supposed to work
Can emtions be culturally specific?
Yes
What does the emotion Litost (Czech) mean?
A state of torment caused by a sudden insight into one’s own miserable self
What does the emotion Schadenfredue (German) mean?
Enjoyment of another person’s suffering
What does the emotion Liget (Ilongot) mean?
like anger, but a pos, socially encouraged response to insult or injury, a successful hunt, celebrations, death of a loved one
What does the emotion Amae (Japanese) mean?
pleasurable dependence on another person; license to be childlike
What is the Sapir-Whorf Hypothese?
Proposal that humans require language to think & thus, only have thos experiences, thoughts, & perceptions for which they have words
- people shouldn’t experience emotions if there language doesn’t have a word for it
- weak and falsified
So can people experience emotions without having a word for it?
Yes, language doesn’t restrict us from experiencing a particular emotion
What are other examples for this?
- we an differentiate colors without their language making the distinction
- we can distinguish different odor even if we can’t label each odors
What was the Haidt & Keltner study?
looked at if Oriya speakers (india) that don’t have a word to distinguish embarrassement and shame (lajya) still differentiate the concepts
eng & oriya-speaking participants shown faces with embarrased or ashamed facial expressions - asked to label & tell story of what couldve elicit that display
Results showed tht a word does not restrict an emotional experience
What are hyper cognized emotions?
Those for which a culuture has an elaborate network of associations & distinctions, leading to increased vocabulary
what are hypo cognized emotions? Give an example.
Those for which a culture & language have little cognitive elaboration or detail
Ex. Tahitian - 46 words for anger but no word for the english concept of sadness (social construct embedded with illness/fatigue in their culture)
What is individualism?
Cultural emphasis on individual uniqueness, personal rights, being true to one’s self, independence from others (US)
What is collectivism?
Cultural emphasis on prioritizing group over individual, deference, social harmony, interdependence
What is the Hong et al. study about individualism vs. collectivism?
Describe the behavior of these fish (US vs. Chinese students)
Americans - fish is leading the group of fish
Chinese - group of fish is chasing the fish
Leading - pride, happy emotions
Chased - anxious, angry - neg emotions
What is wrong with labeling a culture as an individualist or collectivist?
It is an oversimplification
What is the Stipek study?
Said that in collectivist cultures, the self is more defined by close others that it is in individualist cultures
- qs: do people in collectvist cultures feel more self-conscious emotions (pride, shame) in response to a close other’s action
- US vs. Chinese students
-read scenarios of either self or family member was either accepted into a prestigious uni or caught cheating on an exam
What were the result of the Stipek study?
Prestigous uni:
Americans equally proud of self vs. child
Chinese - prouder of child than self
Caught cheating:
- both said more shame, guilt if they were caught but Chinese repoted more shame and guilt in both conditions
Chinese had stronger emotional response to close others’ actions & outcomes
What is a vertical society? (power distance)
People attend closely to social hierarchy, encoraging emotions and behaviors that respect status differences
What is the horizontal society? (power distance)
People typically minimize attention to status differences, seldom acknowledging status differences publicly
What was the Hwang & Matsumoto power distance & emotion study?
Used olympic judo competitors to measure display of pride, dominance when they won/lost a medal
Result: competitors from more vertical cultures show more dominance after winning medal; no effect of power difference on behavior after losing
What is Linear Epistemology?
Belief that knowing something means:
knowing what is constant and unchanging about it
how it differs from other things
what is true vs. false about it
strongly influenced by Aristotle
What is Dialectal Epistemology?
Belief that:
Reality is always changing
all things are interrelated, not separate or different
same proposition can be both true and false, depending on perspective
strongly influenced by Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism
What is the shiota study about epistemology and emotion?
Qs: do Asian-American dating partners be more likely than European-American partners to report feeling love and neg emotion at the same time during specific convos?
-college age dating couples
- 4 convos: teasing, share a concern, previous partner, 1st date
- after each convo, listener rates felt love, several neg emotions
-for each cultural group, calculate correlation between love, main neg emotion felt during each convo
What was the result of the Shioto (2010) study?
Euro-Amer - reported love or target neg emotion but not both
Asian-Amer - reported feeling love & the neg emotion at the same time
THIS is how culture or epistemology affects emotion
What are the limitations of studies of culture & emotion?
-Most research compared US/CAN with Japan/China
- cultures don’t always follows national boundaries
(people moving from 1 place to another may experience a cultural shock)
- culture may influence how ppl interpret, using rating scales in questionnaires; same no. may have diff meaning (no. 4 can mean something diff for diff ppl)
-Studying group differences is not the same as studying culture
what is Culture priming?
Projecting participants with certain stimuli, manipulating participants to examine their cultural mindsets (not changing their cultural beliefs) can tell us if they’re leaning towards 1 culture more than the other
What is culture of honor?
Reputation for strength, self reliance, pride toughness are important for social standing, self-protection; common in herding economies with sparse law enforcement
- happens in places where people’s wealth is stored in form & location that can be eaasily stolen
- law enforcement is distanct and unreliable
e.g. southern & western USA
What was the study of Cohen about culture of honor & anger?
Qs: Do undergrad men from US southern states respond more aggressively to insults than northerns?
Procedure: man is bumbed & verbally insulted by a confederate in hallways vs. confederate walks by (control) & chicken game
Measure: rater-observed anger, hormones cortisol (Stress), testosterone (dominance), dominant behavior (handshake) with 3rd person
What is a confederate?
Member of the research team pretending to be a partcipant
What was the result of the study of Cohen about culture of honor & anger?
southern men appeared angrier, showed increased cortisol, testosterone, gave firmer handshakes, gave way later in chicken test
not observed in the no-bump control condition
IMPLICATION: Aggressive responses to insults may be heightened in cultures where self-protection has historically required strong assertion of dominance
What are the evolutionary & cultural approaches to emotion?
Neurocultural Theory of Emotion
Emotion Episodes as socially constructed scripts
levels of analysis
What is the Neurocultural Theory of Emotion?
This theory is based on the assumption that there are basic emotions (happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, anger, surprise & possible contempt & shame), whose activation triggers “facial affect progragm that sends neuro impulses to the face”
- culture determines what kidns of emotions to experience
What theory said supports that culture sets norms for expressing emotions and tells u how to act an emotion?
Neuro-cultural theory of emotion (Ekman)
What is the facial affect program?
people have the same emotions, everyone expresses emotions in the same manner
What are display rules?
Rules that specify which emotion is appropriate in the context of a situation you are encountering (conscious management technique)
- they specify, neutralize or mask your emotions, norms that very across cultures
What was the display rules comparative study?
Japanese, American subjects
Examined facial expression of each group while watching a neutral or upsetting movie, alone and while being interviewed
Results: Japanese people didnt change their expression much when they were being interviewed
IMPLICATION: Japanese were prompted by their display rules to hide their neg emotions with a smile - Americans considered more authentic by this logic
What are emotion episodes as socially constructed scripts?
Episodes are socially constructed scripts
some are universal (eliciting experiences, facial expression, physiological)
Some are culturally learned (physiologically constructed) - like percieved cause of emotion, emotional behavior
What are scripts?
Cultural beliefs about what events, thoughts, feelings, & bhaviors are supposed to go together in an episode of experience
What are levels of analysis?
Emotions have functions at many levels of analysis: some are universal, others are cultural
Functions universal - Intraindividual and dyadic
Functions cultural - Small groups and culture - more variability
What is intraindividual level of analysis? give an example
Emotions help individual survive and reproduce
Ex. Fear makes us run from threat
What is dyadic level of analysis? Give an example
Emotion supports relationships between 2 people
Ex. parents love for their children - continuous, maintained
What is small groups level of analysis? Give an example
Emotins help negotiate group members’ social roles
Using emotion to express social hierarchy in a vertical society
What is culture level of analysis? Give an example
Emotional stories are used to teach cultural values
Ex. using legends, stories to evoke emotions
