Analysis of Cultural Influence on Emotions〔* 〕

Yang Chunmei

(School of Foreign Languages Southwest U niversity of Political Science and Law，Chongqing 401120)

Ⅰ．The role of culture in positive and negative emotions

At least two emotional functions can be identified in western culture(e．g．Potter，1998)．〔1〕The first one is as a medium for self－focus and expression．In western culture，great importance is attached to self－knowledge of one’s attributes，general knowledge of their inner psychological processes and particular emotional experiences．One’s own emotions have become the objects for rational analysis and evaluation．They explain the personal behavior and are the fundamental basis for self－concept．By differentiating oneself between others，this helps to create a unique and individual culture．Meanwhile it also makes a person to display his/her own emotions for expressing politeness or avoiding negative consequences to one’s health．For example，one can“bring out anger”．

The second one is as a mechanism for creating and managing social relationships(e．g．Heelas，1996)．〔2〕Apart from self－focus and expression，emotions also play a bigger social role in western cultures．One’s emotions are considered as the means for initiating，maintaining and ending social relationships．They are also the reasons and standards for testifying the authenticity and validity of social behaviors．Since emotions are regarded as the tools for influencing others in western cultures(e．g．Hochschild，1983)，〔3〕much emphasis is placed on social appropriateness in particular social context．One has to regulate and control his/her own emotional experience accordingly to maintain the social relationship．

To sum up，due to the great emphasis on the rational tradition and logic dichotomy，emotions thus become objectified and defined terms which can be evaluated and controlled in western culture．Westerners thus develop a clear classification of everyday emotions，namely，positive and negative emotions are considered to be the oppositional terms．

Bagozzi，Wong and Yi(1999)〔4〕found that one way in which interdependent－based cultures especially those in China，South Korea and Japan differ from Western cultures is that the former places more importance on things outside the individual and the surrounding environment，with particular emphasis on people as a social being．For instance，in traditional Chinese thinking，a person’s social role and his/her relationships with others are what meant to be a person．However，the western philosophical tradition，which stresses the notion of self，is rooted in subjective experience．This Western thought did not play a major role in the traditional Chinese thinking．Instead，the Chinese conception of dao prevailed over the western concept of logos(reason)．In Greece’s rational concept，logic and the reality are combined and the language is used to define，describe and represent things．Whereas the Chinese conception of dao attaches great importance to the ritual behavior(e．g．，right conduct)and language is used as an instrument of guiding behavior．In addition，they found that the English translation of Chinese terms for emotion，qing，have two different meanings:the first is“affections，feelings，desired”，the second is“circumstances，facts of a case”(Hansen，1995:182)．〔5〕Therefore，they believe that the meaning of emotion in China is a compound fusion of environmental background and feeling．

Bagozzi，Wong and Yi(1999)〔6〕further analyzed the nature and function of emotions in different cultural context．First，in western philosophies and folk psychology，emotions are the foundations for the volition(e．g．in the belief－desire model)and are linked to behavior tendencies．Qing is used to name the proper terms and provide feedback when dao is practiced．This places the social context a central role，while the causes of the social be-havior— emotions become secondary．Second，in Western cultures，emotional terms are intentional and have three contextual characteristics— “as being caused by events，as capable of affecting our behavior，and as capable of being direct at people”(Oatley，1992:82)．〔7〕By contrast，the role of emotions in intercultural context is quite different from that in the West．A study on Chinese subjects(Potter，1988)〔8〕show that in terms of social life，emotional experiences have no formal consequences and are not relevant to the creation and maintenance of the social institutions．For Chinese people，emotions are“concomitant phenomena”，“not fundamental”and“logically secondary”when related to social life(Potter，1988:185)．〔9〕That explains why Chinese people tend to respond with“How I feel doesn’t matter”when they are asked about the emotional experience．Correspondingly，the emotions are not used to influence others in China to the same extent that in Western cultures．Third，in the west，people attach great importance to the appropriate feelings in a social situation where individual emotional experience is linked to social meaning．While in the east，especially those in China，South Korea and Japan，the social meaning stems from one’s social context rather than its private emotional experience．The Eastern people express their emotions to share agreement with specific social moral values and social world rather than reflect their inner feelings at the moment．To some extent，the Eastern way of emotional expression is“directed away from psychological processes of individuals”(Potter，1988:190)．〔10〕

In conclusion，positive and negative emotions are negatively associated in Western or independent－based cultures while positively associated in interdependent－based cultures．In other words，people in the independentbased cultures express their emotions in bipolar ways，whereas people in the independent－based cultures express their emotions in dialectic ways．

Ⅱ．The role of gender in positive and negative emotions

Comparative studies on women and men by emotion psychologists show that gender is a significant contingency which moderates the effect of culture on positive and negative emotions．That is，the tendency to experience one’s own positive emotions and negative emotions both in the East and the West is greater for women than men．

1．Gender differences in the experience and expression of emotions

Studies show that gender differences exist with respect to stereotypes，felt emotional intensity and the self concept(e．g．Brody ＆ Hall，1993)．〔11〕

Stereotypes．Lutz(1996)〔12〕interviewed with the American men and women and found it is widely believed that women are more emotional than men．And the typical female display emotions more extremely than the typical male．These stereotypes are significantly manifested in adults as well as the children aged 3－5 years．

Felt emotional intensity．The evidence for gender differences can be found in the process of socialization．A growing body of studies shows that women are socialized to be more expressive of their own emotions．And they are more likely to display their emotions by both verbal and non－verbal means(e．g．facial expressions ＆ gestures)．In the process of socialization，parents use more emotional terms towards girls than that of boys．When interacted with their teachers and authority，even in peer relations，girls are more encouraged to avoid conflict，cooperate and perform in small intimate groups，whereas boys are encouraged to compete in hierarchical and statusoriented groups．Since the mother is assumed to take more responsibility for childcare，they are more sensitive to the needs and emotional expressions of other people．As a result，mother－child affection distance is shorter than that between father and child．All these forms of socialization are reinforced by social norms and mass media．To sum up，women show higher levels of correlations between positive and negative emotions than men．

Self－concept．Gender differences are reinforced by one’s emotional self－identity(Eagly，1987)〔13〕and distinctive use of language．For example，Lutz(1996:154)〔14〕found that“women talked about the control of emotions more than twice as often as did men”．And this is“primarily on the part of women，of the view of themselves as more emotional，of emotion as dangerous，and hence of themselves as need of control”．Therefore，to some extent women are considered more emotional，knowledgeable，sensitive and skilled than men．

2．A typical experimental study on the experience and expression of emotions

A number of empirical studies by psychologists have found that cultural and gender differences exist in the expression of positive and negative emotions．111 men and 162 women undergraduate students at the U niversity of Michigan，132 men and 78 women undergraduate students from the U niversity of Beijing participated in the study conducted by Bagozzi，Wong and Yi(1999)．〔15〕All the participants were required to respond to 72 items of positive and negative emotions to assess their own emotional feelings under three different contexts— felt intensity right now，felt intensity in general and frequency of occurrence in general．The intensity items were recorded with 5－point scales:“very slightly or not at all”，“a little bit”，“moderately”，“quite a bit”and“very much”．The frequency items were also recorded with 5－point scale:“never”，“very frequently”，“some of the time”，“a good part of the time”and“the most of the time”．Statistic data were processed by two－factor model(positive and negative emotions)，six－factor model(love，joy，anger，sad，fear，and guilt/shame)and three－factor model(love，joy and negative emotions)．

The study showed a negative association between positive and negative emotions for American people yet a positive association between positive and negative emotions for Chinese people．The study confirmed that people in the western cultures experience and express their emotions in bipolar ways，whereas people in the eastern cultures in dialectic ways．

The study also found that the tendency to experience one’s own positive and negative emotions in across－cultural contexts is greater for women than men．The within－gender，across－cultural comparisons revealed that Chinese women have a greater positive correlation with positive and negative emotions than men，whereas American women have a greater negative correlation with positive and negative emotions than men．Therefore，the hypothesis that women tend to experience and express their emotions in dialectic ways was partly supported by experimental studies．In other words，only women in eastern cultures(e．g．China)tend to experience and express their emotions in dialectic ways．

Ⅲ．Discussions for further study

The study of the role of culture and gender in the relationship between positive and negative emotions help to understand the subjective and objective factors in emotions．The nature and the social function of emotions should not be underestimated for further development．

First，the way culture and gender influence emotions．Empirical study results revealed that the American and Chinese women show a greater correlation with positive and negative emotions in opposite directions．This explains on the one hand，culture and gender interact to influence emotions．On the other hand，the way culture and gender affect emotions are significantly different．Hence，Bagozzi，Wong and Yi(1999)〔16〕concluded that the direction of association is influenced by culture，whereas the magnitude is further influenced by gender．

Second，the interpretation of the cultural influence．Although empirical studies have confirmed that the culture influence the relation between positive and negative emotions of both eastern and western people，the connotation of cultural influences by western scholars is still confined to the level of phenomenological speculation and there still exists unconvinced explanations．They believe，for example，in independent－based culture，emotions are central concepts for explaining one’s own and others’behaviors．Emotions are the subject of self－control within social situations and the tool of social relations．Emotions are used to distinguish one from others and promote individuality．Thus people in the independent－based culture devote considerable time and effort to analyze their own and others’emotions．They tend to express and experience positive and negative emotions in bipolar ways．By contrast，people in interdependent－based culture experience and express positive and negative emotions in dialectic ways．Clearly，these explanations are beyond the scope of empirical research and are inconformity with the development of western psychology．Emotions are considered opposite to reason in traditional western psychology．The nature and function of emotions are often explained as disordered，collapsed，impulsive and negative psychological phenomenon．There is a lack in systematic study of emotions and emotions are simply the object of psychological treatment．The study in western emotion psychology focuses more on how emotions are influenced by physiological，cognitive and environmental factors rather than the functions of the emotions．As a result，emotions are regarded as part of the cognitive process and subordinate phenomenon before 1960s．

Third，the value of cultural difference and emotions．Although studies on the cultural differences display superiority of western culture，some western scholars，however，pointed out the fact that the Eastern dialectic way of experience and express positive and negative emotions can better reflect the rational characteristics of human emotions and the value of social adaptation．They further pointed out that this simple dialectic way show characteristics of cyclical theory and fatalism．Therefore，how to balance the complementary advantages of eastern and western cultures to improve the value of emotional research should be one direction for further study．

Fourth，the development of cultural and gender differences on emotions．Research of cultural and gender differences on emotions are directly related to some fundamental theoretical problems as how emotions are generated，how self－experience is produced and how emotions are associated with social life，etc．Therefore，it needs further study on how to expand the vision of research to promote the overall development of emotion psychology theory．

〔5〕Hansen，C．，Qing(emotions)in pre－Buddhist Chinese thought．In J．Marks ＆ R．T．Ames(Eds．)Emotions in Asian thought，Albany，NY:State University of New York Press，1995，pp．181－211．

〔1〕〔8〕〔9〕〔10〕Potter，S．H．， The cultural construction of emotion in rural Chinese social life，Ethos，1988，pp．181－208．

〔2〕Heelas，P．，Emotion talk across cultures．In R．Harre ＆ W．G．Parrott(Eds．)， The emotions，London:Sage，1996，pp．171－199．

〔3〕Hochschild，A．P．， The managed heart:commercialization of human feeling，Berkeley，CA:University of California Press，1983．

〔4〕〔6〕〔15〕〔16〕Bagozzi R P，Wong N，Yi Y．，The roles of culture and gender in the relationship between positive and negative affect， Cognition and Emotion，1999，13(6)，pp．641－672．

〔7〕Oatley，K．， Best laid schemes:The psychology of emotions，Cambridge，UK:Cambridge University Press，1992．

〔11〕Brody，L．R．，＆ Hall，J．A．，Gender and emotion．In M．Lewis ＆ J．M．Haviland(Eds．)， Handbook of emotions，New York:Guilford，1993，pp．447－460．

〔12〕〔14〕Lutz CZ．，Engendered emotion．Gender，power and rhetoric of emotional control in American discourse．In R．Harre ＆ W．G．Parrott(Eds．)， The emotions，London:Sage，1996，pp．151－170．

〔13〕Eagly，A．H．， Sex differences in social behavior:A social role interpretation，Hillsdale，NJ:Erlbaum，1987．