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Studying Emotion
Three theoretical approaches:
Innate, evolutionarily based set of basic emotions that are the same in all human beings regardless of culture.
Emotions as reflections of culturally based experiences that differ in important ways from those in other cultures.
Componential analysis of emotions breaks down emotions to see whether particular components fall into one or the other of the above.
Emotion Terminology
Basic emotion = the most frequently selected emotions in Western Society
Blended emotion = a category of emotion that combines two or more of the basic emotions
Social emotions = emotions that depend on the presence of others (eg. Shame, guilt, love)
Categorization of emotions in these ways is controversial. Eg. Shame, guilt and love are considered to be basic emotions by some researchers.
Universal Basic EmotionsEkman’s Research
The Fore in New GuineaFacial expressions as a psycho-physiological characteristic
of emotionEmotion specific muscular patterns in the facePeople were asked to indicate one of three photos that
showed what a person’s face would look like in a particular situation
People were asked to make an expression appropriate to a specified situation and were photographed.
Results showed that the Fore selected and used the same facial expressions as Westerners.
Six unblended, basic emotions were established:happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise and disgust
These were the most consistently selected emotions in West
Universal Basic EmotionsEkman’s Research
Research in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Japan and the U.S.Individuals shown a single photo of one of the six basic
emotionsGiven a set of six emotion terms in their languages and
asked to select the term that applied.No significant differences were found between culturesPhotos were from the USA problem was that exposure to American media might
have prejudiced the responsesNew individuals among the Fore and also the Dani (New
Guinea) were exposed to the photos and asked to label them
They labeled the photos as would Westerners 80% of the time. Confusion between anger and surprise)
Conclusion is that the less exposure to Western culture, the lower the correspondence of emotion labeling
Universal Basic Emotions
Ekman’s Research
Forced choice (closed ended responces)Western studies used university students in
literate societiesPhotos were presented without contextOnly basic emotion responses were offered
Dimensional Quality of Emotions
Osgood’s ResearchThe Semantic Differential MethodPresent a wordAsk participants to rate that word on one or
more dimensionsEG. AggressionPositive 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 NegativeStrong 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 WeakActive 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Passive
Its rating on these dimensions becomes its “affective meaning.”
Dimensional Quality of EmotionsOsgood’s Research
As applied to emotion words:Anger (basic)
Positive 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 NegativeStrong 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 WeakActive 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Passive
Frustration (blended)Positive 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 NegativeStrong 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 WeakActive 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Passive
Contentment (blended)Positive 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 NegativeStrong 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 WeakActive 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Passive
Vocal Expression of EmotionSpeech samples with emotional intonation were
altered so that the words were intelligible, but the intonation remained
English speaking Canadians, Native Americans and Mexicans recognized emotions at better than chance level
Peformance for English-speaking Canadians and Native Americans was better in their own language
Mexicans did better in Canadian English than did Canadians
Dutch, Taiwanese and Japanese using a Dutch phraseDutch did much better, but all recognized emotions at better than
chance levels Emotions were easier to confuse with other emotions if they were
high activation emotions.
Emotion Display RulesConventions about showing emotions in
public settings
Japanese and US students were shown movies and videotaped both alone and when the experimenter was present
Both showed similar emotions to movie content
Japanese students showed less emotion when experimenter was present
Emotion Display RulesConventions about showing emotions in public
settingsUS, Hungarian and Polish participantsAsked how appropriate it is to show each of the six
basic emotions 1. when alone2. in the company of in-group individuals3. with outsiders
Eastern Europeans said more appropriate to show positive emotions with insiders and less appropriate to show negative emotions with outsiders than US participants
Gestures and EmotionCategories of gestures
1. Adaptors = movements connected with bodily needs and interpersonal contacts (scratch nose)2. Regulators = play a role in talking and listening turn taking (nodding head)3. Illustrators = serve to underline or depict what is being said (pointing)4. Emblems have a cognitive meaning by themselves (shrug)
Referential emblems = those whose meaning is directly tied to the gesture
Conventional emblems = those whose meaning depends on cultural content
Dutch individuals could interpret Chinese gestures when they were referential emblems
Emotions as Cultural StatesCatherine Lutz’s ResearchIfaluk, South Pacific
“fago” = compassion, love and sadness“song” = justifiable anger
Social construction of emotionsEmotions as a transitory social role
Renato Rosaldo’s ResearchIlongot, Philippines
“liget” = a form of anger combined with grief associated with head hunting
Java, IndonesiaMultiple words for shame in Javanese, only one in English
Tahiti, South PacificNo word for “sadness”
Language as the key to understanding cultural meanings overlaid on basic emotions
Components of Emotions
Antecedents of emotion = events triggering the emotion
Appraisal of events that leads to selection of emotion elicited
1. attention to change or novelty
2. pleasantness vs unpleasantness
3. certainty vs uncertainty
4. sense of control or agency
Motor expressions
Physiological symptoms
Subjective feelings
Social Sharing of emotions
Components of Emotions
Antecedents of emotion
Research shows that there is no difference in the antecedent events that lead to specific emotions
Appraisal of events that leads to selection of emotion elicited
Research shows that US, European and Japanese showed differences in the how they reacted to the same situations
Japanese showed significantly lower reactivity
US showed significantly higher reactivity
Physiological Symptoms
The same physiological symptoms characterize more than one emotional state
Increased heart rate, rapid breathing, increased blood pressure, etc can characterize anger, fear, excitement
Motivation
Authoritative fathers yield low achievement boys
Religious belief that your individualistic group is superior to others yields high achievement motivation
High status mobility leads to high achievement motivation and vice versa
Father absence associated with immediate gratification
Father present associated with delayed gratification
Delayed gratification associated with
high achievement motivation,
long term goal directedness,
future orientation,
high individual autonomy