Perceptions of emotional functionality: similarities and differences among dignity, face, and honor cultures

Maitner, A. T. et al. (2022) Perceptions of emotional functionality: similarities and differences among dignity, face, and honor cultures. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 53(3-4), pp. 263-288. (doi: 10.1177/00220221211065108)

Abstract

Emotions are linked to wide sets of action tendencies, and it can be difficult to predict which specific action tendency will be motivated or indulged in response to individual experiences of emotion. Building on a functional perspective of emotion, we investigate whether anger and shame connect to different behavioral intentions in dignity, face, and honor cultures. Using simple animations that showed perpetrators taking resources from victims, we conducted two studies across eleven countries investigating the extent to which participants expected victims to feel anger and shame, how they thought victims should respond to such violations, and how expectations of emotions were affected by enacted behavior. Across cultures, anger was associated with desires to reclaim resources or alert others to the violation. In face and honor cultures, but not dignity cultures, shame was associated with the desire for aggressive retaliation. However, we found that when victims indulged motivationally-relevant behavior, expected anger and shame were reduced, and satisfaction increased, in similar ways across cultures. Results suggest similarities and differences in expectations of how emotions functionally elicit behavioral responses across cultures.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This research was funded in part by a Faculty Research Grant (FRG16-R-03) from the American University of Sharjah awarded to Mark Aveyard and Angela Maitner and was prepared within the framework of the HSE University Basic Research Program.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Shiramizu, Dr Victor
• Authors: Maitner, A. T., DeCoster, J., Andersson, P. A., Eriksson, K., Sherbaji, S., Giner-Sorolla, R., Mackie, D. M., Aveyard, M., Claypool, H. M., Crisp, R. J., Gritskov, V., Habjan, K., Hartanto, A., Kiyonari, T., Kuzminska, A. O., Manesi, Z., Molho, C., Munasinghe, A., Peperkoorn, L. S., Shiramizu, V., Smallman, R., Soboleva, N., Stivers, A. W., Summerville, A., Wu, B., and Wu, J.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Psychology & Neuroscience
• Journal Name: Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• ISSN: 0022-0221
• ISSN (Online): 1552-5422
• Published Online: 22 January 2022

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