Ethnic differences in affect intensity,emotion judgments,display rule attitudes,and self-reported emotional expression in an American sample

Research of the past two decades has shown that cultures exert considerable influence over emotion. Most, if not all, of the cross-cultural research reported to date have been on samples obtained in different countries. Although it is important to address questions of cross-cultural similarities and differences via the testing of between-country differences, we need to be concerned with possible cultural differenceswithin countries as well. The assessment of cultural differences within countries would have implications for not only our conceptual understanding of cultural influences on emotion, but also our empirical methods and procedures. In this study, American subjects were self-classified into one of four ethnic groups, and provided us with data concerning affect intensity, display rule attitudes, self-reported emotional expression, emotion labeling, and intensity ratings. The results indicated considerable differences in emotion judgments, display rules, and self-reported emotional expressions as a function of ethnicity within an American sample. The differences are discussed in terms of the need to search for psychologically meaningful and relevant definitions of culture which would cut across ethnicity or country.     

The Contribution of Individualism vs. Collectivism to Cross-national Differences in Display Rules

Despite the fact that display rules are an important concept of theories of emotion and contemporary psychology, relatively little cross-cultural research has been done on them. This study examined cross-national differences in display rules of emotion, and investigated the degree to which those differences could be attributed to Individualism and Collectivism (IC) measured on the individual level. Participants in the US, Japan, South Korea, and Russia completed a comprehensive measure of display rules assessing behavioral tendencies for seven universal emotions in four social contexts in two rating domains. They also completed Matsumoto et al .'s (1997) Individualism–Collectivism Interpersonal Assessment Inventory. The results confirmed the existence of cross-national differences in IC and display rules, and indicated that IC and display rules were correlated. Significant differences between the countries remained even after IC was controlled for, and effect size analyses comparing cross-national differences when IC was controlled and not indicated that IC accounted for approximately 30% of the effect sizes related to cross-national differences. This study is unique in that it not only used the concept of IC to explain and predict differences; it also quantitatively assessed the degree to which IC contributed to those differences. These findings are discussed in terms of the utility of the IC concept to understanding cross-cultural and cross-national differences in emotion.     

More evidence for the universality of a contempt expression

Since its publication in 1986, Ekman and Friesen's (1986) discovery of a universal facial expression unique to contempt has received considerable attention (e.g., see Ekman & Friesen, 1988; Ekman & Heider, 1988; Ekman, O'Sullivan, & Matsumoto, 1991a, 1991b; Izard & Haynes, 1988; Russell, 1991a, 1991b; Ricci Bitti, Brighetti, Garotti, Boggi-Cavallo, 1989). Actually, much of this argument began before there was adequate sampling of contempt photographs across many cultures. In order to address this concern, this study reports judgment data on all 12 photos used in previous studies depicting the contempt expression from four non-American cultures. The data provide a strong replication of Ekman and Friesen's (1986) and Ekman and Heider's (1988) findings for a universal expression of contempt.The research reported in this article was supported in part by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (MH 42749-01), and by a Faculty Award for Creativity, Scholarship, and Research from San Francisco State University. I would like to thank Veronica Ton for her aid in the collection of the Vietnamese data; Valerie Hearn for her aid in the collection of the Polish and Hungarian data; Masami Kobayashi, Fazilet Kasri, Deborah Krupp, Bill Roberts, and Michelle Weissman for their aid in my research program on emotion; and William Irwin for his aid in the data analysis.     

Development and validation of a measure of display rule knowledge: the display rule assessment inventory

As one component of emotion regulation, display rules, which reflect the regulation of expressive behavior, have been the topic of many studies. Despite their theoretical and empirical importance, however, to date there is no measure of display rules that assesses a full range of behavioral responses that are theoretically possible when emotion is elicited. This article reports the development of a new measure of display rules that surveys 5 expressive modes: expression, deamplification, amplification, qualification, and masking. Two studies provide evidence for its internal and temporal reliability and for its content, convergent, discriminant, external, and concurrent predictive validity. Additionally, Study 1, involving American, Russian, and Japanese participants, demonstrated predictable cultural differences on each of the expressive modes.     

American-Japanese Cultural Differences in Judgements of Expression Intensity and Subjective Experience

A number of studies have reported cultural differences in intensity ratings of facial expressions of emotion. In the previous research, however, observers made only a single intensity rating; thus, it was not clear whether observers rated the external display, or made an inference about the subjective experience of the poser. In this study, we obtained these two intensity ratings separately from American and Japanese observers. Results indicated that Americans perceived greater intensity in display, but Japanese inferred greater intensity of subjective experience. When examined within-culture, Americans rated display more intensely than subjective experience, whereas there was no difference between the two ratings for the Japanese. We discuss these findings in relation to the concept of cultural decoding rules, and outline an agenda for future research that examines the exact nature of these rules, the relationship between decoding, display rules and self-construals, and the role of context in judging emotion.     

American-Japanese cultural differences in intensity ratings of facial expressions of emotion

Findings from a recent study by Ekmanet al. (1987) provided evidence for cultural disagreement about the intensity ratings of universal facial expressions of emotion. We conducted a study that examined the basis of these cultural differences. Japanese and American subjects made two separate intensity ratings of Japanese and Caucacian posers portraying anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise. The Americans had higher mean intensity ratings than the Japanese for all emotions except disgust, regardless of the culture or gender of the poser. Americans gave happy and angry photos the highest intensity ratings, while Japanese gave disgust photos the highest ratings. But there was considerable cross-cultural consistency in the relative differences among photos.This study was conducted as part of a doctoral dissertation by the first author, under the supervision of the second author. David Matsumoto was supported by a minority fellowship from the American Psychological Association, under a Clinical Training Grant from NIMH (MH13833), and by a Regents Fellowship from the University of California, Berkeley. Paul Ekman was supported by a Research Scientist Award from NIMH (MH06092).We gratefully acknowledge the contribution of Wallace V. Friesen to the development of the facial stimuli used in this study, Tsutomu Kudoh for his aid in collecting the Japanese data, and Wallace Friesen and Maureen O'Sullivan for their aid during data analysis.     

On the context dependence of emotion displays: Perceptions of gold medalists’ expressions of pride

In spite of various claims for cross-cultural differences in the experience of pride, studies on the expression of pride have revealed few cross-cultural differences. Five studies using archival data from Olympic and national championships do show cross-cultural differences in the expression of pride and other positive emotions in pride-eliciting contexts, contingent on the social context of the expression, notably the in-group or out-group status of the audience. Chinese gold medalists were perceived to express less pride than American medalists when outperforming in-group competitors; when outperforming out-group members, however, no or smaller cross-cultural differences were observed. These findings are important because they indicate that cultural norms about emotion expression may be activated only in situations in which they serve a function in coordinating people's behaviour.     

Positive Emotional Experiences in Scottish and Italian Young Adults: a Diary Study

This research focused on the nature and frequency of positive emotion in a sample of Scottish and Italian young adults and is part of larger scale on-going cross-cultural studies on positive emotion, well-being and happiness. A total of 1043 positive incidents were collected from 157 students who completed diaries in the two countries. Positive incidents were frequent in the course of daily life and were triggered by a wide variety of personal, social and environmental antecedents. Although each culture had a very similar life-satisfaction rating some cultural differences in the phenomenology of positive incidents and their emotions still emerged. As hypothesised Italian and Scottish cultures differed in the domain of independence and interdependence. Italians reported more social interactions involving talking with another and intimacy with a significant other. The Scots, in contrast, reported positive feelings associated with relaxation and being alone as frequently as other social categories, thus exemplifying independence. Recording positive incidents, as they occur moment to moment deconstructs the global and retrospective study of subjective well-being and happiness and fulfills the necessity for ecologically valid research.     

Universals and cultural differences in recognizing emotions

Moving beyond the earlier nature-versus-nurture debate, modern work on the communication of emotion has incorporated both universals and cultural differences. Classic research demonstrated that the intended emotions in posed expressions were recognized by members of many different cultural groups at rates better than predicted by random guessing. However, recent research has also documented evidence for an in-group advantage, meaning that people are generally more accurate at judging emotions when the emotions are expressed by members of their own cultural group rather than by members of a different cultural group. These new findings provide initial support for a dialect theory of emotion that has the potential to integrate both classic and recent findings. Further research in this area has the potential to improve cross-cultural communication.     

Stressful demands or helpful guidance? The role of display rules in Indian call centers

This paper utilizes conservation of resources (COR) theory and two of Hofstede's (1980) dimensions of culture (individualism and power distance) to examine the impact of display rules on job satisfaction and performance in an Indian call center sample. Contrary to findings in an American sample (Wilk & Moynihan, 2005), we proposed that due to cultural differences as well as differences in the nature of the job among representatives in an Indian call center, supervisory focus on display rules would reduce emotional exhaustion, and in turn, have positive consequences for employee performance and job satisfaction. Using multi-source data in a sample of 137 Indian call center representatives, results confirmed the hypothesized mediating effects of emotional exhaustion on performance and job satisfaction. Implications of these results for future cross-cultural research are presented.     

Stressful demands or helpful guidance? The role of display rules in Indian call centers

This paper utilizes conservation of resources (COR) theory and two of Hofstede's (1980) dimensions of culture (individualism and power distance) to examine the impact of display rules on job satisfaction and performance in an Indian call center sample. Contrary to findings in an American sample (Wilk & Moynihan, 2005), we proposed that due to cultural differences as well as differences in the nature of the job among representatives in an Indian call center, supervisory focus on display rules would reduce emotional exhaustion, and in turn, have positive consequences for employee performance and job satisfaction. Using multi-source data in a sample of 137 Indian call center representatives, results confirmed the hypothesized mediating effects of emotional exhaustion on performance and job satisfaction. Implications of these results for future cross-cultural research are presented.     

Durkheim's sociology of scientific knowledge

Durkheim's thinking on scientific knowledge reveals several contradictions, resulting from the relativist implications of his substantive theory of culture and the positivist assumptions of his metatheoretical definition of scientific methods in sociology. In his explanations of historical and cross-cultural differences in „truthful”︁ representations of reality, Durkheim suggests that logical and conceptual structures of knowledge are determined by social morphology, and that the validity of any truth-claim is limited to cultural contexts in which designated criteria of validation are normatively maintained. However, in epistemological works such as The Rules, Durkheim suggests that social factors are of little importance in constructing scientific knowledge, and that truths of science mirror external reality and so their validity transcends cultural boundaries.     

Differences in Emotional Labor Across Cultures: A Comparison of Chinese and U.S. Service Workers

Purpose

In the global economy, the need for understanding cross-cultural differences and the customer service-related processes involved in emotional labor is evident. The current study attempts to examine this issue by developing and testing hypotheses pertaining to cross-cultural differences between U.S. and Chinese service workers on the levels of display rule perceptions, emotion regulation, and burnout (i.e., emotional exhaustion, personal accomplishment, and depersonalization) as well as the relationships among these variables.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Data was collected from service workers in the U.S. (n = 280) and China (n = 231). We tested for measurement differences, mean differences, and differences in the relationships among emotional labor variables between the two samples using a variety of analyses.

Findings

It was found that the relatively robust sequence of display rules to surface acting to burnout was observed in a U.S. sample but was not observed in a Chinese sample, with some relationships being significantly weaker in the Chinese sample (e.g., surface acting to burnout dimensions) and others exhibiting relationships with the opposite sign (e.g., display rules were negatively related to surface acting in the Chinese sample).

Implications

The results of this study suggest that many of the relationships among emotional labor variables vary as a function of the cultural context under consideration.

Originality/Value

This is the first study to directly compare emotional labor across samples from Eastern and Western cultures. Additionally, this study begins to answer questions concerning why models of emotional labor generated in a Western culture may not apply in other cultures.     

Cross-cultural componential analysis on affect attribution of emotion terms

One concern of studies of emotions is that of the underlying denotative components of the meanings of emotional terms, whether people are actually cognizant of them or not. In this study, we evaluated the characteristics of 10 emotional denotative components and their hierarchical ordering in attribution to 22 emotion concepts across 23 different human societies. Empirically, a quantitative model, developed by Tzeng and Osgood (1976), was used to link the relationship between affect measures of the emotion concepts and their characteristics on denotative components. It was found that the 10 denotative components functioned extremely well in predicting the affect for individual cultures and also for the 23 cultures as a whole. Cross-cultural comparisons revealed some significant differences among the components in predicting indigenous affect attributions for different cultures. Finally, the nature and dynamics of such intercultural differences were discussed in reference to the issue of independence between affect and cognition.This research was planned and carried out as a part of a cross-cultural research project of out laboratory. It was completed during Dr. Rumjahn Hoosain's visiting professorship at Purdue University School of Science at Indianapolis for his sabbatical leave from the University of Hong Kong. The authors wish to express their gratitude to our foreign colleagues who participated in the data collection for this study.     

文化对个体风险感知的影响:文化认知理论的解释

文化认知理论旨在从个体层面研究与文化因素相关的个体风险感知差异。它以"格-群"维度划分文化世界观,"格"维度衡量社会的制度化程度,"群"维度衡量社会群体对个体的影响程度,由此编制文化认知量表以测量个体文化理念差异。目前已验证认同保护认知、偏见同化与群体极化、文化易得性、文化可信性、文化认同确认五种作用机制,并在情感启发式研究的基础上引入文化冲突模因作为中介变量建立理论模型。后续研究可推进文化认知测量工具的跨文化检验与本土化修订,并在具体风险主题研究的基础上探索切实可行的公共风险管理对策。     

独乐乐或众乐乐?不同文化下的正性情绪取向和调节研究

受到自我概念文化价值影响,中国人对正性情绪的取向和调节与西方人存在很大差异。中国人的正性情绪更多指向自己的社会关系,体现出对情绪的社会取向。而西方人的正性情绪更多与个人、内在的因素相关,体现出对情绪的个人取向。受到正性情绪的不同取向的影响,中国人对正性情绪持有非享乐主义的情绪调节模式;而西方人则持有享乐主义的情绪调节模式。在日后的研究中,研究者可从本土化视角、内隐测量、社会文化神经研究范式以及不同文化下的情绪调节策略的适应价值等角度对以往研究进行改进和拓展。     

SOCIAL DIFFICULTY IN THREE CULTURES

An extended, piloted, version of the Bryant and Trower (1974) Social Situations Questionnaire was administered in Natal, South Africa, to nurses from three cultural groups: African, Indian and European, who were matched in terms of age, sex, education, occupation, and language competence. There was a significant difference between the three groups' self-reported social difficulty with the Europeans (Whites) expressing least social difficulty and the Africans (Blacks) most. Discriminant analysis revealed the items which showed most differences in the réponse between the three groups. The similarities and differences between the cultural groups in self-reported social difficulty are discussed within the context of their sociopolitical and cultural experience, and socialization. Implications for cross-cultural research in social skills are noted.     

儿童情绪理解发展的研究述评

近20年来,情绪理解越来越成为大家关注一个的研究领域。作者认为情绪理解可以分为对情绪状态的理解和对情绪过程的理解两部分。情绪状态的理解包括表情识别、情绪情景识别和混合情绪理解等,情绪过程的理解涉及情绪原因的理解、愿望与信念对情绪作用的理解、情绪表现规则知识和情绪调节的理解等。作者系统介绍了情绪理解的研究方法及相关研究成果,同时从研究方法和研究内容上提出目前研究的局限性,在方法上有必要对研究材料的文化适用性进行标准化,对问题和情景进行严格设计,降低对儿童语言能力的要求,还可以补充自然语言分析等方法;在内容上有必要深入探讨情绪理解过程及其作用的内部机制,开展情绪理解作用的实验研究,加强对情绪理解的个体内部影响因素的考察     

Person-in-Environment Transitions: Developmental Analysis

The holistic, developmental, systems-oriented perspective, an extension of the work of Heinz Werner and his associates, is characterized including basic assumptions of the approach and explication with respect to such problems as child development (including transition to nursery school; child-centered urban planning; microgenesis and ontogenesis); adult development (including becoming a parent and retiring); social relationships (including residential living of first year undergraduates; abused women; marital interaction); health problems (including protection against sexual transmission of HIV, reading disabilities, weight loss, and alcohol and tobacco use); changes in the physical environment; cross-cultural psychology (including cultural differences in values; values mothers hold for preschoolers; necessities, amenities, and luxuries; sojourner experience and action; cross-cultural differences in compliance with automobile safety belt legislation); psychopathology including neuropathology; organizational psychology; conditions facilitating developmental advance; and some significant open research problems.