How can we tell emotions apart?

Remember -- look at general instructions, too, for status report, poster, final report.

Examples from students

Theory, Background:

The underlying question for this project is to ask if there are universal, or common, elements to emotions or are they learned in a specific culture?  Look in the text for why this may occur -- what biological basis may it have?

Two Views of Culture and Emotion

ï Universality -  Emotions are part of human nature and all cultures on the earth have the same set of basic emotions

ï Cultural specificity - Each culture has a unique set of emotions and emotional responses; the emotions shown in a particular culture reflects the norms, values, practices, and language of that culture

Culture and Emotion

ï In class, we described several different emotions (e.g., anger, shame, joy, pride) in terms of when they occur, what they feel like, and how long they last

ï Is it possible these emotion descriptions are unique to our culture?

ï Imagine that a group of students in another culture was asked to describe the same emotions?

ñ Would they have a word for each emotion?

ñ Would they come up with the same antecedent conditions?

ñ Would they describe the experience and associated behaviors and facial expressions in the same way?

One way to do Procedure:  Start with Jaimee's idea:

uses variations of anger, variations of sadness

sadness:  

• bad day
• lots on my mind
• lost a friend

anger-like emotions:

• anger
• irritated
• long term underlying frustration.

One way to do Procedure:

Step A. Come up with list of emotions. Include at least 4 of universal 6 emotions and at least 4 other, non-universal emotions.

Step B. Take pictures of 2 people doing all 8 emotions. Encourage person to really get into emotion by remembering a situation when s/he would felt that emotion (closing eyes at this point helps). Exaggeration of expressions will make a difference..

Step C. Have a DIFFERENT group of 5 people try to identify the emotions. Give these subjects a list of 8 emotions that are depicted in the photos and 3 distracters (other emotions). Have them label each of the 16 pictures with one emotion.

In additional to general directions, here's some additional thoughts for the Status Report:

In part 1, describe the components of an emotions. How are facial expressions part of an emotion? Describe the idea of a universal emotion. What are non-universal emotions, then?

In part 2, turn in pictures, labeled on back with the emotion. Include the list of emotions you gave to your subjects. Report data in a table like one below.

R: identifies right emotion, W: wrong emotion

Universal emotions

Non-universal emotions

Subject

Sadness

Anger

Joy

Fear

Doubt

Disdain

Amusement

Reverence

1

R

W

R

R

W

R

W

R

R

W

R

W

R

R

W

R

2

R

W

R

R

W

W

R

R

W

R

W

R

W

R

R

W

3

etc.

---

Things to think about

Amae - an emotion Japanese

Schadenfreude in German

Findings from Cross-Cultural Research on Emotion

• Antecedent conditions
• Appraisal
• Emotional experience
• Emotional expression

Antecedent Conditions

ï Americans and Malaysian subjects describe a situation in which a person would feel each of the six basic emotions (anger, disgust, fear, joy, sadness, or surprise)

ï A second group of American subjects judged which of the situations mentioned by the American and Malaysian subjects corresponded to which of the six emotions

ï American judges were equally accurate at categorizing situations described by Americans and Malaysians

Antecedent Conditions - Findings replicated in numerous other countries

ñ Example: Both Tahitians and Americans said that giving a speech in public would produce mild fear, and that anticipation of physical danger would produce more extreme fear

ï Conclusion: The antecedent conditions of basic emotions are at least somewhat universal

Antecedent Conditions - But, there is some evidence for culturally specific antecedent conditions

ñ Utku Eskimos say they feel happy when ìchasing lemmings or stoning ptarmigansî

ñ In Israel, the most frequent antecedent conditions for joy involve ìachievementî whereas in American and Northern

European countries the most frequent antecedent conditions for joy involve ìrelationshipsî

ï Conclusion: Cross-cultural differences in antecedent conditions reflect culture-specific living conditions and culture-specific beliefs and values

Emotion Appraisal

ï Appraisal = Evaluation of the event in terms of its relevance to goals, wishes, and concerns

ï Cross-cultural similarity found for appraisal dimensions:

ñ Pleasant vs. unpleasant

ñ Expected vs. unexpected

ñ Fair vs. unfair

ñ Responsibility for the event (self vs. other)

ï Example: Across cultures, anger-inducing events are typically described as unpleasant, unexpected, and unfair, and another person is usually seen as responsible for the event

Cultural Differences in Appraisal - Cognitive

ï Different appraisal of the same event due to cultural norms

ñ Nudity and embarrassment (France vs. U.S.)

ï Reappraisal due to cultural norms

ñ Samoan emotion of Musu -- a feeling of reluctance to do what is required of him/her. Occurs when others (e.g., parents) place unreasonable demands on the person. Anger toward parents is unacceptable so situation is reappraised in terms of reluctance to follow authority

Cultural Differences in Physiology - Physiological

ï Self-reports of physiological reactions tend to be cross-culturally similar, but:

ñ Some cultures (e.g., Japanese and Samoan) are less likely to mention any bodily sensations

ï Few studies of actual physiological changes; most studies point to cross-cultural similarities, but with some differences from someone elseís lecture notes:

Mostly innate:

--Blind babies smile at the right times

But:

--Display rules vary by culture and gender

--Some emotions are elaborated or suppressed in some cultures (and genders)

When have your emotions been misidentified?

When have you misread others' emotions?

        has it ever caused a big fight?

What does "from a different culture" really mean?

What process or method did models use to create facial expressions? (think of something in own life, think of word?)

Are you including distracter emotions? What difference would that make?

Did you let them look at all the pictures at once?

In Jessica's study, "models were teenage girls. 3 of my subjects who picked out emotion picture matches were teenagers and actually averaged a higher percentage of correct guesses than the adults."

confident vs. regal - same emotion?

confidence in self vs. feeling better than others, how would you define the difference?

        in terms of how you think about a person?   in terms of how you treat the person?

Do kids come born ready to experience those emotions differently, or do they learn to distinguish between the two?

Links

Information on Darwin and universal emotions

Examples of different shades of universal emotions

Muscles in face -- see how they would operationalize different emotions?

There is a pop-up activity on the textbook's CD-ROM.  

Here's an example of the surprise face -- notice the eyebrows, eyes, mouth.

Emotion Laboraty Research

return to course home page

Last Modified: December 15, 2001

Tom Link