Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T13:22:08.560Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

8 - Emotion between Universalism and Relativism: Finding a Standard for Comparison in Cross-Cultural Emotion Research

from Part 2 - Individual Differences across Cultures

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 January 2021

By
Johnny R. J. Fontaine  and
Seger M. Breugelmans
Edited by
Michael Bender  and
Byron G. Adams
Michael Bender
Affiliation:
Universiteit van Tilburg, The Netherlands
Byron G. Adams
Affiliation:
Universiteit van Tilburg, The Netherlands
Get access

Summary

This chapter combines developments in the emotion literature with developments in cross-cultural methodology in order to formulate four recommendations that can bridge the gap between relativist and universalist views on cultural variation in emotion. We recommend that researchers (1) specify the emotions or facets of emotions they study, preferably using a multi-componential approach to assessing emotions; (2) check the equivalence across languages and cultures of the emotion vocabulary they use, either by existing data bases or by including the measurement of meaning in their design; (3) specify the level at which they compare emotions across cultures ranging from descriptions of culture-specific constructs to direct comparisons of mean scores, and apply adequate methods to demonstrate the level of comparability claimed; and (4) account for both similarities and differences when they formulate hypotheses, as well as when they interpret their data. These recommendations are illustrated with historical and contemporary cross-cultural emotion research.

Keywords

emotioncultureuniversalismrelativismmulti-componentialmethodsvocabularyGRID
Type
Chapter
Information
Methods and Assessment in Culture and Psychology , pp. 144 - 169
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, National Council on Measurement in Education, Joint Committee on Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (US). (2014). Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. Washington, DC: AERA.Google Scholar
Arnold, M. B. (1960). Emotion and Personality. Vol. 1. Psychological Aspects. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Averill, J. (1980). A constructivist view of emotion. In Plutchik, R. & Kellerman, H. (eds.), Emotion: Theory, Research, and Experience (Vol. 1, pp. 305–340). New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Barrett, L. F. (2006). Are emotions natural kinds? Perspectives on Psychological Science, 1, 28–58.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Berry, J. W., Poortinga, Y. H., Breugelmans, S. M., Chasiotis, A., & Sam, D. L. (2011). Cross-Cultural Psychology: Research and Applications (3rd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Birdwhistell, R. L. (1970). Kinesics and Context. Philadelphia: University of Philadelphia Press.Google Scholar
Bradley, M. M., & Lang, P. J. (1994). Measuring emotion: The self-assessment manikin and the semantic differential. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 25, 49–59.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Breugelmans, S. M., & Poortinga, Y. H. (2006). Emotion without a word: Shame and guilt among Rarámuri Indians and Rural Javanese. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 1111–1122.Google Scholar
Breugelmans, S. M., Poortinga, Y. H., Ambadar, Z., Setiadi, B., Vaca, J. B., & Widiyanto, P. (2005). Body sensations associated with emotions in Rarámuri Indians, rural Javanese, and three student samples. Emotion, 5, 166–174.Google Scholar
Breugelmans, S. M., Zeelenberg, M., Gilovich, T., Huang, W. H., & Shani, Y. (2014). Generality and cultural variation in the experience of regret. Emotion, 14, 1037–1048.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brouwers, S. A., van Hemert, D. A., Breugelmans, S. M., & van de Vijver, F. J. R. (2004). A historical analysis of empirical studies published in the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology – 1970–2004. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 35, 251–262.Google Scholar
Cohen, D., & Nisbett, R. E. (1997). Field experiments examining the culture of honor: The role of institutions perpetuating norms about violence. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23, 1188–1199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Darwin, C. (1998). The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (3rd ed., Ekman, P., ed.). London: HarperCollins. (Original work published 1872.)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ekman, P. (1994). Strong evidence for universals in facial expression: A reply to Russell’s mistaken critique. Psychological Bulletin, 115, 268–287.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ekman, P., & Friesen, W. V. (1969). The repertoire of nonverbal behavior: Categories, origins, usage, and coding. Semiotica, 1, 49–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ekman, P., & Friesen, W. V. (1971). Constants across cultures in face and emotion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 17, 124–129.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ekman, P., & Friesen, W. V. (1978). The Facial Action Coding System: A Technique for the Measurement of Facial Movement. Palo Alto: Consulting Psychologists Press.Google Scholar
Fessler, D. M. T. (2007) From appeasement to conformity: Evolutionary and cultural perspectives on shame, competition, and cooperation. In Tracy, J. L., Robins, R. W., & Tangney, J. P. (eds.), The Self-Conscious Emotions: Theory and Research (pp. 174–193). New York: The Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Fischer, R., & Fontaine, J. R. J. (2011). Methods for investigating structural equivalence. In Matsumoto, D. & van de Vijver, F. (eds.), Cross-Cultural Research Methods in Psychology (pp. 197–215). New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Fontaine, J. R. J. (2005). Equivalence. In Kempf-Leonard, K. (ed.), Encyclopedia of Social Measurement (vol. 1, pp. 803–813). New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Fontaine, J. R. J. (2008). Traditional and multilevel approaches in cross-cultural research: An integration of methodological frameworks. In van de Vijver, F. J. R., Van Hemert, D. A., & Poortinga, Y. H. (eds.), Multilevel Analysis of Individuals and Cultures (pp. 65–92). New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Fontaine, J. R. J. (2011). A fourfold conceptual framework for cultural and cross-cultural psychology: relativism, construct universalism, repertoire universalism, and absolutism. In van de Vijver, F. J. R., Chasiotis, A., & Breugelmans, S. M. (eds.), Fundamental Questions in Cross-Cultural Psychology (pp. 165–189). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Fontaine, J. R. J., & Fischer, R. (2011). Data analytic approaches for investigating isomorphism between the individual-level and the cultural-level internal structure. In Matsumoto, D. & van de Vijver, F. (eds.), Cross-Cultural Research Methods in Psychology (pp. 273–298). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Fontaine, J. R. J., Luyten, P., de Boeck, P., Corveleyn, J., Fernandez, M., Herrera, D., & Ittzés, A. (2006). Untying the Gordian knot of guilt and shame: The structure of guilt and shame reactions based on situation and person variation in Belgium, Hungary, and Peru. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 37, 273–292.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fontaine, J. R. J., Poortinga, Y. H., Setiadi, B. & Suprapti, S. M. (2002). Cognitive structure of emotion terms in Indonesia and the Netherlands. Cognition & Emotion, 16, 61–86.Google Scholar
Fontaine, J. R. J., & Scherer, K. R. (2013). The global meaning structure of the emotion domain: Investigating the complementarity of multiple perspectives on meaning. In Fontaine, J. R. J., Scherer, K. R., & Soriano, C. (eds.), Components of Emotional Meaning: A Sourcebook (pp. 106–125). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Fontaine, J. R. J., Scherer, K. R., Roesch, E. B., & Ellsworth, P. (2007). The world of emotion is not two-dimensional. Psychological Science, 18, 1050–1057.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fontaine, J. R. J., Scherer, K. R., & Soriano, C. (eds.). (2013). Components of Emotional Meaning: A Sourcebook. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frijda, N. H. (1986). The Emotions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Frijda, N. H., Kuipers, P., & ter Schure, E. (1989). Relations among emotion, appraisal, and emotional action readiness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 212–228.Google Scholar
Frijda, N. H., Markam, S., Sato, K., & Wiers, R. (1995). Emotions and emotion words. In Russell, J.A., Fernández-Dols, J.-M., Manstead, A. S. R., & Wellenkamp, J. C. (eds.), Everyday Conceptions of Emotion: An Introduction to the Psychology, Anthropology and Linguistics of Emotion (1st ed., pp. 121–144). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic.Google Scholar
Jackson, J. C., Watts, J., Henry, T. R., List, J.-M., Forkel, R., Mucha, P. J., Greenhill, S., Gray, R. D., & Lindquist, K. A. (2019). Emotion semantics show both cultural variation and universal structure. Science, 366, 1517–1522.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
James, W. (1884). What is an emotion? Mind, 9, 188–205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kitayama, S., King, A., Yoon, C., Tompson, S., Huff, S., & Liberzon, I. (2014). The dopamine D4 receptor gene (DRD4) moderates cultural difference in independent versus interdependent social orientation. Psychological Science, 25, 1169–1177.Google Scholar
Kitayama, S., Markus, H. R., & Kurokawa, M. (2000). Culture, emotion, and well-being: Good feelings in Japan and the United States. Cognition & Emotion, 14, 93–124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klineberg, O. (1940). Social Psychology. New York: Henry Holt.Google Scholar
Kret, M. E., Stekelenburg, J. J., Roelofs, K., & de Gelder, B. (2013). Perception of face and body expressions using electromyography, pupillometry and gaze measures. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 28.Google Scholar
Kuppens, P., Ceulemans, E., Timmerman, M. E., Diener, E., & Kim-Prieto, C. (2006). Universal intracultural and intercultural dimensions of the recalled frequency of emotional experience. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 37, 491–515.Google Scholar
Lang, P. J, Bradley, M. M., & Cuthberth, B. N. (1999). International affective picture system (IAPS): Technical Manual and Affective Ratings. Gainesville: University of Florida.Google Scholar
Lange, C. (1922). The Emotions (I. A. Haupt, trans.). Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.Google Scholar
Lange, J., Dalege, J., Borsboom, D., van Kleef, G. A., & Fischer, A. H. (2020). Toward an integrative psychometric model of emotions. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 15, 444–468.Google Scholar
Levenson, R. W., Ekman, P. E., Heider, K., & Friesen, W. V. (1992). Emotion and autonomic nervous system activity in the Minangkabau of West Sumatra. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62, 972–988.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Loijens, L., & Krips, O. (2018). Face Reader Methodology Note. Noldus Information Technology White Paper.Google Scholar
Lutz, C. (1988). Unnatural Emotions: Everyday Sentiments on a Micronesian Atoll and Their Challenge to Western Theory. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manstead, A. S. R., & Fischer, A. H. (2002). Beyond the universality-specificity dichotomy. Cognition & Emotion, 16, 1–9.Google Scholar
Matsumoto, D., & Yoo, S. H. (2006). Toward a new generation of cross-cultural research. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 1, 234–250.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Menon, U., & Shweder, R. A. (1994). Kali’s tongue: Cultural psychology and the power of shame in Orissa, India. In Kitayama, S. & Markus, H. R. (eds.), Emotion and Culture: Empirical Studies of Mutual Influence (pp. 241–282). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mesquita, B., & Frijda, N. H. (1992). Cultural variations in emotions: A review. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 179–204.Google Scholar
Mesquita, B., Frijda, N. H., & Scherer, K. R. (1997). Culture and emotion. In Berry, J. W., Dasen, P. R., & Saraswathi, T. S. (eds.), Handbook of Cross-Cultural Psychology, Volume 2: Basic Processes and Human Development (pp. 255–297). Needham Heights: Allyn & Bacon.Google Scholar
Messick, S. (1989). Validity. In Linn, R. L. (ed.), Educational Measurement (3rd ed., pp. 13–103). New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Osgood, C. E., May, W. H., & Miron, M. S. (1975). Cross-Cultural Universals of Affective Meaning. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.Google Scholar
Poortinga, Y. (2015). Is “culture” a workable concept for (cross-)cultural psychology? Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poortinga, Y. H. (1997). Towards convergence? In Berry, J. W., Poortinga, Y. H., and Pandey, J. (eds.), Handbook of Cross-Cultural Psychology: Theory and Method (Vol. 1) (2nd ed., pp. 347–387). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.Google Scholar
Poortinga, Y. H., van de Vijver, F. J. R., Joe, R. C., & van de Koppel, J. M. H. (1987). Peeling the onion called culture: A synopsis. In Kağitçibaşi, Ç. (ed.), Growth and Progress in Cross-Cultural Psychology (pp. 22–34). Berwyn, PA: Swets North America.Google Scholar
Riegel, M., Moslehi, A., Michałowski, J. M., Żurawski, Ł., Horvat, M., Wypych, M., Jednoróg, K., & Marchewka, A. (2017). Nencki affective picture system: Cross-cultural study in Europe and Iran. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 274.Google Scholar
Rosaldo, M. Z. (1980). Knowledge and Passion: Ilongot Notions of Self and Social Life. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roseman, I. J. (1991). Appraisal determinants of discrete emotions. Cognition & Emotion, 5, 161–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Russell, J. A. (1980). A circumplex model of affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 1161–1178.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Russell, J. A. (1994). Is there universal recognition of emotion from facial expression? A review of cross-cultural studies. Psychological Bulletin, 115, 102–141.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sbarra, D. A. (2015). Divorce and health: Current trends and future directions. Psychosomatic Medicine, 77, 227–236.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schachter, S., & Singer, J. E. (1962). Cognitive, social, and physiological determinants of emotional state. Psychological Review, 69, 379–399.Google Scholar
Scherer, K. R. (1999). On the sequential nature of appraisal processes: Indirect evidence from a recognition task. Cognition & Emotion, 13, 763–793.Google Scholar
Scherer, K. R. (2005). What are emotions? And how can they be measured? Social Science Information, 44, 695–729.Google Scholar
Scherer, K. R. (2009). The dynamic architecture of emotion: Evidence for the component process model. Cognition & Emotion, 23, 1307–1351.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scherer, K. R., Fontaine, J. R. J., & Soriano, C. (2013). CoreGRID and MiniGRID: Development and validation of two short versions of the GRID instrument. In Fontaine, J. R. J., Scherer, K. R., & Soriano, C. (eds.), Components of Emotional Meaning: A Sourcebook (pp. 523–541). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Scherer, K. R., & Wallbott, H. G. (1994). Evidence for universality and cultural variation of differential emotion response patterning. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 310–328.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schwartz, S. H. (1992). Universals in the content and structure of values: Theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 25, 1–65.Google Scholar
Schwartz, S. H. (2006). A theory of cultural value orientations: Explication and applications. Comparative Sociology, 5, 136–182.Google Scholar
Soudijn, K. A., Hutschemaekers, G. J. M., & Van De Vijver, F. R. J. (1990). Culture conceptualisations. In van de Vijver, F. J. R. & Hutschemaekers, Giel J. M. (eds.), The Conceptualisation of Culture (pp. 19–39). Tilburg: Tilburg University Press.Google Scholar
Tangney, J. P. (1990). Assessing individual differences in proneness to shame and guilt: Development of the self-conscious affect and attribution inventory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 102–111.Google Scholar
Thayer, R. E. (1989). The Biopsychology of Mood and Arousal. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Tomkins, S. S. (1962). Affect, Imagery, Consciousness: Vol. 1. The Positive Affects. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Tomkins, S. S. (1963). Affect, Imagery, Consciousness: Vol. 2. The Negative Affects. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Van Osch, Y. M. J., Zeelenberg, M., & Breugelmans, S. M. (2016). On the context dependence of emotion displays: Perceptions of gold medalists’ expressions of pride. Cognition and Emotion, 30, 1332–1343.Google Scholar
Van de Ven, N., Zeelenberg, M., & Pieters, R. (2009). Leveling up and down: The experiences of benign and malicious envy. Emotion, 9, 419–429.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van de Vijver, F. J. R., & Leung, K. (1997). Methods and Data Analysis of Comparative Research. Thousand Oaks: Sage.Google Scholar
Van de Vijver, F. J. R., & Leung, K. (2011). Equivalence and bias: A review of concepts, models, and data analytic procedures. In Matsumoto, D. & van de Vijver, F. (eds.), Cross-Cultural Research Methods in Psychology (pp. 273–298). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Van de Vijver, F. J. R., van Hemert, D., & Poortinga, Y. H. (2008). Conceptual issues in multilevel models. In van de Vijver, F. J. R., Van Hemert, D. A., & Poortinga, Y. H. (eds.), Multilevel Analysis of Individuals and Cultures (pp. 65–92). New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Van de Vijver, F. J. R., & Poortinga, Y. H. (2002). Internal structure equivalence in multilevel research. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 33, 141–156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van de Vijver, F. J. R., & Tanzer, N. K. (1997). Bias and equivalence in cross-cultural assessment: An overview. European Review of Applied Psychology, 47, 263–280.Google Scholar
Watson, D., & Tellegen, A. (1985). Toward a consensual structure of mood. Psychological Bulletin, 98, 219–235.Google Scholar
Wong, Y., & Tsai, J. (2007). Cultural models of shame and guilt. In Tracy, J. L., Robins, R. W., & Tangney, J. P. (eds.), The Self-Conscious Emotions: Theory and Research (pp. 209–223). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Wundt, W. (1896). Grundriss der Psychologie. Leipzig: Engelmann.Google Scholar
Yik, M. S. M., Russell, J. A., & Barrett, L. F. (1999). Structure of self-reported current affect: Integration and beyond. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 600–619.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×