Some aspects of emotion are universal to all cultures, while other aspects
differ across cultures.
Similarities Among Cultures
Ekman and his colleagues have found that people in different
cultures can identify the six basic emotions: happiness, sadness, anger,
fear, surprise, and disgust. The physiological indicators of emotion are
similar in people from different cultures.
Differences Among Cultures
Although many emotions and expressions of emotions are universal, some
differences exist among cultures:
-
Categories of emotions: People in different cultures
categorize emotions differently. Some languages have labels for emotions
that are not labeled in other languages.
Example: Tahitians do not have a word for
sadness. Germans have a word,
schadenfreude, indicating joy at someone
else’s misfortune, that has no equivalent in
English.
-
Prioritization of emotions: Different cultures consider
different emotions to be primary.
Example: Shame is considered a key emotion in some non-Western
cultures, but it is less likely to be considered a primary
emotion in many Western cultures.
-
Different emotions evoked: The same situation may evoke
different emotions in different cultures.
Example: A pork chop served for dinner might evoke disgust in
the majority of people in Saudi Arabia, while it’s likely to
provoke happiness in many people in the United
States.
-
Differences in nonverbal expressions: Nonverbal
expressions of emotion differ across cultures, due partly to the fact that
different cultures have different display rules. Display rules are norms that tell people whether, which, how, and when emotions should be
displayed.
Example: In the United States, male friends usually do not
embrace and kiss each other as a form of greeting. Such behavior
would make most American men uncomfortable or even angry. In
many European countries, however, acquaintances normally embrace
and kiss each other on both cheeks, and avoiding this greeting
would seem unfriendly.
-
Power of cultural norms: Cultural norms determine how and
when to show emotions that are not actually felt. Acting out an emotion that
is not felt is called emotion work.
Example: In some cultures, it is appropriate for people who
attend a funeral to show extreme grief. In others, it is
appropriate to appear stoic.
