Culture and emotion
By using multiple measures of emotion, my research provides an intricate picture of the emotional lives of individuals in different cultures. In doing so, I hope to uncover sources of cultural differences in subjective well-being (SWB), in addition to illuminating the study of individual differences in emotion. Furthermore, I believe that challenges in cross-cultural measurement can inform the measurement of emotion within cultures.
Momentary emotion. A robust and consistent finding in the well-being literature is that individuals from Asian cultures tend to report lower SWB than individuals from Western and Latin societies. However, most cross-cultural comparisons of emotion have been based on recalled reports of emotion that are vulnerable to memory reconstruction. Scollon et al. (2004) examined momentary and recalled emotions in European Americans, Latino Americans, Asian Americans, Japanese in Japan, and Indians in India, represents one of the few attempts to use experience sampling methodology in different cultures. Results indicated cultural differences in both momentary and retrospective measures, with European and Latino Americans reporting higher pleasant emotion and lower unpleasant emotion than Asian Americans, Japanese, and Indians. However, momentary reports (especially for negative emotion) showed smaller cultural differences than retrospective measures, suggesting that cultural norms may have stronger effects on memory than on momentary experience. Groups also differed more in reports of pleasant emotion than in unpleasant emotion, a finding that supports the notion that pleasant emotions may be more influenced by culture and socialization than unpleasant emotions. Particularly striking cultural differences emerged on both momentary and recalled measures of pride. European and Latino Americans reported much more pride than Asian Americans, Japanese, and Indians. This finding resonates with cultural theories that suggest that pride in individualistic societies is highly valued because it emphasizes the uniqueness of the self. Importantly, this research demonstrates that culture influences momentary affective experiences as well as memory for emotions.
Structure of emotion. The intersection of culture and emotion also provides an opportunity to examine important structural issues. One issue that my research addresses is whether the relation between pleasant and unpleasant affect varies by culture and by level of analysis. I have found that, regardless of culture, pleasant and unpleasant feelings are negatively correlated in momentary experience. However, at trait levels (i.e., between-persons), pleasant and unpleasant affect are uncorrelated among European and Latino Americans, and positively correlated among Asian Americans, Japanese, and Indians (Scollon, Diener, Oishi, Biswas-Diener, 2005). In particular, individuals in Asian cultures who experience a great deal of pride also report more guilt, sadness, and irritation, a finding which might explain lower levels of SWB in Asian cultures. This study highlights the importance of studying emotion at both levels. One avenue of future research is to examine why pleasant and unpleasant affect are positively related in Asian cultures.
Indigenous emotions. Translation adds an extra challenge to the study of emotion across cultures. For instance, finding the same structure of emotion in different cultures is not sufficient evidence for measurement invariance if the structures are based on English or translated English emotions. Many cultures have emotions that do not have English equivalents and cannot be directly translated. By neglecting these culturally “indigenous emotions,” we might inflate the chances of detecting universal structure. Although indigenous emotions have received treatment in ethnographic studies, my research is the first to use experience sampling to track indigenous emotions (Scollon et al., 2004). I cluster analyzed emotions in Japan and India and found that indigenous emotions did not form distinct clusters from the pleasant and unpleasant dimensions that are often found in studies using translated English emotions. This is important because it shows that pleasantness and unpleasantness capture emotional experience in different cultures, and that indigenous emotions are fairly well-represented by Western emotion words.
In 2011, I integrated these various findings to propose a framework for understanding cultural differences in self-reported emotion (Scollon, Koh, & Au, 2011). Most recently, Sharon Koh and I examined the origins of different cultural beliefs about the value of happiness (Koh, Scollon, Li, & Suh, in preparation). We found that cultures which had high historical levels of disease now report lower valuation of happiness. We demonstrate this effect using world data in 3 studies and using priming in 2 studies.
By using multiple measures of emotion, my research provides an intricate picture of the emotional lives of individuals in different cultures. In doing so, I hope to uncover sources of cultural differences in subjective well-being (SWB), in addition to illuminating the study of individual differences in emotion. Furthermore, I believe that challenges in cross-cultural measurement can inform the measurement of emotion within cultures.
Momentary emotion. A robust and consistent finding in the well-being literature is that individuals from Asian cultures tend to report lower SWB than individuals from Western and Latin societies. However, most cross-cultural comparisons of emotion have been based on recalled reports of emotion that are vulnerable to memory reconstruction. Scollon et al. (2004) examined momentary and recalled emotions in European Americans, Latino Americans, Asian Americans, Japanese in Japan, and Indians in India, represents one of the few attempts to use experience sampling methodology in different cultures. Results indicated cultural differences in both momentary and retrospective measures, with European and Latino Americans reporting higher pleasant emotion and lower unpleasant emotion than Asian Americans, Japanese, and Indians. However, momentary reports (especially for negative emotion) showed smaller cultural differences than retrospective measures, suggesting that cultural norms may have stronger effects on memory than on momentary experience. Groups also differed more in reports of pleasant emotion than in unpleasant emotion, a finding that supports the notion that pleasant emotions may be more influenced by culture and socialization than unpleasant emotions. Particularly striking cultural differences emerged on both momentary and recalled measures of pride. European and Latino Americans reported much more pride than Asian Americans, Japanese, and Indians. This finding resonates with cultural theories that suggest that pride in individualistic societies is highly valued because it emphasizes the uniqueness of the self. Importantly, this research demonstrates that culture influences momentary affective experiences as well as memory for emotions.
Structure of emotion. The intersection of culture and emotion also provides an opportunity to examine important structural issues. One issue that my research addresses is whether the relation between pleasant and unpleasant affect varies by culture and by level of analysis. I have found that, regardless of culture, pleasant and unpleasant feelings are negatively correlated in momentary experience. However, at trait levels (i.e., between-persons), pleasant and unpleasant affect are uncorrelated among European and Latino Americans, and positively correlated among Asian Americans, Japanese, and Indians (Scollon, Diener, Oishi, Biswas-Diener, 2005). In particular, individuals in Asian cultures who experience a great deal of pride also report more guilt, sadness, and irritation, a finding which might explain lower levels of SWB in Asian cultures. This study highlights the importance of studying emotion at both levels. One avenue of future research is to examine why pleasant and unpleasant affect are positively related in Asian cultures.
Indigenous emotions. Translation adds an extra challenge to the study of emotion across cultures. For instance, finding the same structure of emotion in different cultures is not sufficient evidence for measurement invariance if the structures are based on English or translated English emotions. Many cultures have emotions that do not have English equivalents and cannot be directly translated. By neglecting these culturally “indigenous emotions,” we might inflate the chances of detecting universal structure. Although indigenous emotions have received treatment in ethnographic studies, my research is the first to use experience sampling to track indigenous emotions (Scollon et al., 2004). I cluster analyzed emotions in Japan and India and found that indigenous emotions did not form distinct clusters from the pleasant and unpleasant dimensions that are often found in studies using translated English emotions. This is important because it shows that pleasantness and unpleasantness capture emotional experience in different cultures, and that indigenous emotions are fairly well-represented by Western emotion words.
In 2011, I integrated these various findings to propose a framework for understanding cultural differences in self-reported emotion (Scollon, Koh, & Au, 2011). Most recently, Sharon Koh and I examined the origins of different cultural beliefs about the value of happiness (Koh, Scollon, Li, & Suh, in preparation). We found that cultures which had high historical levels of disease now report lower valuation of happiness. We demonstrate this effect using world data in 3 studies and using priming in 2 studies.
