How does culture impact on the expression of emotion?

SO107 Essay 3, Rosalie Kelly, Class 2. Word Count: 1729

“Any emotion, if it is sincere, is involuntary” - Mark Twain.

Mark Twain’s famous words quoted above suggest that human emotions are expressed involuntarily, and that their expression is a universally inherent part of human nature. Whilst some psychologists maintain this, others propose that culture produces variations in the ways in which emotions are expressed throughout the world and that the “involuntary” nature of emotion is subject to cultural influence. The definition given by Answers.com, which states that emotion is “a mental state that arises spontaneously rather than through conscious effort, and is often accompanied by physiological changes”, supports Twain’s theory that humans cannot choose whether or not to express a particular emotion. However, this is not to say that culture is unable to influence these involuntary actions. It is this concept wherein lies the quandary for many psychologists. Hereafter I aim to outline the evidence provided by psychological studies for the expression of emotion in terms of universality and cultural impact, and to ultimately determine how culture impacts on the ways in which emotions are expressed.

The universal nature of the expression of emotion

The idea that humans throughout the world express their emotions in the same way has a biological basis. In his 1872 classic works, The Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals, Charles Darwin put forward the idea that facial expressions of emotion are biologically innate and are a result of evolutionary adaptations. These adaptations arise to ensure the survival of the species, and Darwin supports this theory with examples, one of which is that of the expression of disgust or rejection stemming from an organism’s attempt to rid itself of something unpleasant (Darwin, 1872). Furthermore, Darwin stated that emotions are not only expressed universally in humans, but also across species, such as in gorillas (Matsumoto & Juang, 2004, pp. 227). In addition, expressions of emotion ensure the survival of the species by providing intra-psychic and social information to others about their wellbeing and their social and environmental relationships (Ibid, pp. 227). For example, a frightened look alerts others to the possible presence of danger and an angry look may allow an individual to anticipate an act of aggression (Atkinson et al., 1996, pp. 390).

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More recently, psychologists have conducted studies that have provided evidence in support of the Darwinian theory that the expression of emotion is a universal phenomenon. The most notable series of studies by Ekman, Friesen and Tomkins (1972), now referred to as the “universality studies” (Matsumoto & Juang, 2004, pp. 227) involved asking participants from five countries (the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Japan) to view a series of photographs, each of which portrayed a different expression of emotion. When asked to label each emotion (anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness and surprise), observers across all five countries gave similar responses, proving that emotions could be universally recognized. However, this initial study was criticised in that it only took into consideration literate and industrialized countries, which share forms of mass media such as television and magazines. In this way, there is the possibility that the responses could have been learned. Therefore, a second study was carried out with two pre-literate tribes in New Guinea, who were asked to select a story that best described a facial expression rather than using words (Ibid, pp. 227). The results of this study were remarkably similar to those of the initial study, providing further evidence in support of the theory of universality of expressions of emotion.

Not only did the studies by Ekman, Friesen and Tomkins provide evidence for universality, they also identified a set of universal emotional expressions, which are highly specific: anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness and surprise. The combination of universality and specificity indicates that a neurological system may be responsible for producing such specific emotions, in that the human body is programmed to use a particular set of muscles in order to express particular emotions (Atkinson et al., 1996, pp. 393). When an image is presented to an individual’s left visual field it projects to the right hemisphere and vice versa. The neurological system that many psychologists believe is responsible for producing emotions is located in the right cerebral hemisphere. When an individual is shown a picture and asked to decide which of two emotions is displayed in the picture, they react faster and with a greater degree of accuracy when the picture is projected to their right hemisphere (Ibid, pp. 393).

Although much of the evidence in support of universality has a biological basis, the study of language also provides elements of cross-cultural similarity with regards to the expression of emotion. For example, a study by a Chinese psychologist who did a comparison of novels both from China and the West identified parallels in the ways in which emotions were portrayed in fiction from both regions. For example, many physiological reactions to emotion such as flushing, trembling and goose pimples were evident in both Chinese and Western writing (Ibid, pp. 392).

The impact of culture on the expression of emotion

Despite the fact that many psychologists have shown that ways of expressing emotions are universal in nature, many believe that the expression of emotion is dependent on an individual’s culture. Studies have shows that a set of cultural display rules exist which state how emotions should be expressed in particular social situations and which behaviours are appropriate when expressing an emotion (Ibid, pp. 392). Cultural display rules are not universal and vary cross-culturally. For example, in some cultures, behaviour deemed acceptable following the loss of a close friend or relative is that of openly crying as a sign of mourning, whereas in others, singing and dancing is the norm (Ibid, pp. 392). A study by Stephan, Stephan and de Vargas which required American and Costa Rican participants to identify 38 emotions as positive or negative, and to rate these emotions in terms of how comfortable they would feel expressing them to their family or to strangers, showed cultural variability in that Costa Rican participants were much less comfortable with the idea of expressing negative emotions (Matsumoto & Juang, 2004, pp. 232-3).

Not only do emotional expressions vary from between different cultures, they also vary depending on whether a culture is individualistic or collectivist in nature (Ibid, pp. 234). Individualistic cultures prioritise standing out as an individual, whereas collectivist cultures prioritise group loyalty and conformity (Hogg & Vaughan, 2008, pp. 639, 642). As a result, individualistic cultures are more encouraging of the expression of negative emotions, as harmony and cohesion are less important than in collectivist cultures, where positive emotions are fostered, as harmony is of the utmost importance (Matsumoto & Juang, 2004, pp. 234). The theory proposed here can be furthered in that individualistic cultures are concerned with maintaining ‘positive face’ by ensuring that an individual’s positive qualities can be seen (Smith & Bond, 1993, pp. 146). Goffman (1959) described this as ‘facework’, the avoidance of ‘losing face’. On the other hand, in collectivistic cultures, ‘positive face’ is sustained through the preservation of group harmony and group success (Smith & Bond, 1993, pp. 146). Additionally, members of individualistic cultures are more likely to attempt to ‘save face’ in an embarrassing situation by refuting the insult they received, particularly in a group situation (Ibid, pp. 146). A study by Bond and Cheung (1991) of Hong Kong students who received a personal insult from their class teacher showed that they were less likely to respond in a group situation in order to avoid conflict reinforcing their unwillingness to display negative emotions in public (Ibid, pp. 146-7).

Moving on now to the importance of language in the expression of emotion, although (as previously mentioned) similarities were found regarding certain bodily expressions of emotion in the study of both Chinese and Western novels, other physiological reactions are subject to misinterpretation. For example, the phrase “they stretched out their tongues” in a Chinese novel would actually mean in English, “they showed signs of surprise” (Klineberg, 1938, quoted in Atkinson et al., 1996, pp. 392). Therefore, anyone unfamiliar with Chinese culture may not interpret the emotion in the way it is intended. To this end, the psychologist William James concluded that the categorization of feelings depends on “the introspective vocabulary of the seeker”, which is dependent on language and culture (James, 1890, quoted in Wierzbicka, 1999, pp. 31). For example, in Polish, the word przykro roughly translates into English as a “bad feeling” (Wierzbicka, 1999, pp. 33) that an individual may get when someone fails to show signs of warmth or affection towards them. The word evokes a particular sensory experience that cannot be transferred cross-culturally. Similarly, human categorizations for feelings differ vastly from one culture to another. For instance, English speakers use categories such as sad, angry, disgusted and happy to describe how they are feeling. Malay speakers, on the other hand, use categories of sedih, marah, jijik and gembira, which do not match English categories (Ibid, pp. 24). In fact, the closest word in Malay, marah, to the English word angry, is not associated with violence and aggression; but more feelings of resent and upset, which is related to Malay attitudes towards emotional expression of violence and aggression (Ibid, pp. 240). In this way, lexicon is able to provide “clues to the emotional universe of a culture” (Ibid, pp. 34).

Conclusions

Although the evidence provided by Darwin to suggest that facial expressions are universal and that humans are born with the capacity to express the same set of emotions in the same ways, I believe that universality ends with facial expression alone, and that even though facial expressions are largely universal, our culture affects all other aspects of emotion expression. Culture exerts its influence in three main ways; by providing a set of cultural display rules, which determine the appropriateness of displaying certain emotions in different social situations, by shaping the norms in both individualistic and collectivist cultures, and through language. In this way, the universality of emotion provides culture with a base, from which the moulding and shaping can start (Matsumoto & Juang, 2004, pp. 230), changing the ways in which humans both express and perceive emotions.

Bibliography

Atkinson, R. L.; Atkinson, R.C.; Bem, D; Nolen-Hoeksema, S; Smith, E: (1996) Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology, 12th Edition.
Darwin, C: (1872) The Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals.
Ekman, P; Davidson, R: (1994) The Nature of Emotion: Fundamental Questions.
Hogg, M; Vaughan, G: (2008) Social Psychology, Fifth Edition.
Matsumoto, D; Juang, L: (2004) Culture and Psychology, 3rd Edition.
Shweder, R; LeVine, R: (1984) Culture Theory: Essays on Mind, Self and Emotion.
Smith, P; Bond, M: (1993) Social Psychology Across Cultures: Analysis and Perspectives.
Wierzbicka, A: (1999) Emotions across Languages and Cultures: Diversity and Universals.