Question

Describe ways that emotions differ between Western and Eastern cultures. What values, environmental conditions, beliefs, practices, or socioeconomic differences might account for these variations in emotional experience and/or expression?

Answer 1

• Our emotion is affected by our biological factors. But emotion is also affected by cultures. Environment is one of the factor that influence the emotions.
• Culture shapes the ways people should feel in certain situations and the ways people should express their emotions.
• In western cultures, high arousal of emotions is more valued than low arousal of emotions. In opposite, eastern cultures give more value to low arousal of emotions.
• There are variations in the meaning of facial expression in different cultures also. the categorization may be also found different in both cultures.
• For example- There are various interpretation of happiness expression in different cultures.
• Environmental conditions can increase or decrease the emotional state. Environmental conditions can affect our hormones that can change the emotional stress responses.
• Belief and practices are other elements of culture, which affect our emotions in different ways. for examples- People who follow Buddhism, there are significant difference in their emotional experiences or expressions.
• Socio-economic status affects the emotions partially. The effect of socio economic status has been observed epecially on the anger expression.