Culture and Emotion

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There are cultural differences in the elicitation/ causes of emotions, the values placed on emotions, and the outward display of emotions. When different cultures are put under study, several issues within the cultures that affect expression of emotions in those cultures. Human emotions are cross-culturally different; some cultures tend to encourage people to be calm, friendly, and comical whereas other cultures encourage their people to be unresponsive, nervous, and easily humiliated. This essay explains my experience in the past years with variations of emotions in different cultures that include Colombian, Iranian and.

Cultural differences in emotion elicitors are the intensity in which emotions are experienced. Iran is an example of an emotionally sensitive culture where individuals more experience intense emotions than other cultures. Iranians would react to anger or threat more harshly than both Colombians and Americans. The reactions of Iranians are quicker, stronger and last longer than for a less emotionally sensitive culture. The Iranian culture promotes sensitivity to emotions such as shame, fear and guilt particularly because of the demand put on them to obey religious rules and older people. On the other hand, Colombians would react to threat in a slower manner by first analyzing the cause of the threat. Their reactions do not normally last as long as the Iranians’ do. Nevertheless, American culture is less sensitive to emotions compared to both the Iranian and the Colombian cultures. Americans usually seek for solution after investigating the cause of a threat or fear rather than taking a reactive response.

Cultural differences in the value of the emotion exist because cultural disparities exist in the modal, prevalent, as well as normative emotional responses. These differences may be expounded in terms of subjective feeling, antecedent events, behavior, and appraisals. In America, women tend to express their emotions more compared to men especially the black Americans. In contrast, in Iran and Columbia both sexes are taught to tightly control the expression of their emotions. Iranian culture greatly prompts women to control expression of their emotions especially if it is geared towards men. I have realized that in Iran one suppresses anger when the target is someone of high status. Iranian culture is a masculine culture characterized with higher gender differences. For men Iranian culture de-emphasize expression of weakness such as sadness but reinforce assertive emotions such as anger.

These three cultures express their emotion differently in their environment. Americans express their emotions in an independent manner. Americans are always feeling sorry for themselves because they normally feel that they are responsible for their own actions and destinies. Colombians express their emotions in terms of family perspective. Colombians’ families share both their emotions and feelings. Colombians are raised in an environment where relatives are put first thus making them worry more for the welfare of their families than themselves. There are family reunions that are regarded as very significant particularly during holidays and there is noticeable respect expected of children. The Colombians are always careful when expressing their emotions at times even faking them in order not to hurt their family members. Iranians express their emotions in a religious perspective because they normally consider obedience to religion as important. This therefore make them express unrealistic emotions just to show respect even when they are angry.

Some cultures are more emotionally sensitive than others meaning that they will exhibit more emotions compared to others. The Columbians’ sadness, fear, and hunger may not last for long when a target is someone of high status; the anger may be suppressed but not as much as it is applied in Iran. Americans are hard-hit by emotions such as fear, sadness and anger because their culture does not suppress the expression of their emotion. Iranians’ emotions are mostly instigated by their religious and cultural values. For instance, it would be a shameful for Iranian women not to cover their body in public particularly in the presence of men. Moreover, respect to others is greatly valued in Iran especially towards older people including parents. Obedience is regarded as significant and this largely contributes to emotions such as fear because they are only required to obey the rules but not allowed to disagree. Some cultures are more emotionally sensitive than others meaning that they will exhibit more emotions compared to others.

The outward display of emotion varies with culture. For example, the extent to which individuals experience emotions differs as a function of culturally normative behavior of their society. I think the reason there are cultural differences in the outward display of emotion is that some cultures value certain emotions more compared to others. American culture is individualistic while the Columbian and Iranian cultures are collectivist, meaning they emphasize doing things on behalf of others. For instance, Americans view happiness as attainable, infinite, and something that is experienced within, whereas Iranians and Colombians consider happiness as relational and involving many external and social factors, inherent in collective experiences among individuals. Columbians are friendly and always express their joy through happiness whenever they hang around with their families and friends. On the other hand, the Iranian culture suppresses display of emotion in public because they are taught to adopt what is right and drop unpleasant emotions. In this regard, emotions such as anger are suppressed in Iran whereas emotions that show respect to God, family members and the entire society are largely exposed.

Americans promote happiness in their cultural setting hence prompting them to create and encourage many circumstances that stimulate happiness. However, Iranians’ culture promotes togetherness and seriousness. The fact that Americans promote happiness amongst themselves is really encouraging and thrilling. Americans proactively maintain a positive view of the self unlike Colombians where cultural models do not favor the positive and a self-critical approach. In Iran, the individuals are aligned with their group where they concentrate on their family’s positive image. The Colombian and Iranian cultures concentrate on receptivity to both positive and negative aspects whereas Americans tend to appraise emotional situations.

Living conditions in various cultures vary with different kinds of events promoted by specific cultural models that in turn generate events that stimulate culturally desirable emotions and subdue events leading to less desirable emotions. Americans love praising, complimenting, encouraging each other, and giving awards and trophies for different levels of achievements. Similarly, Iranians discourage being critical or inattentive and they largely promote an encouraging and enthusiastic view of themselves. Colombians devalue anger and they normally reduce the in-group contexts in which anger is likely to emerge. Additionally, the Iranian culture devalues anger and suppresses the acts of thwarting and in-group frustration that in turn avoids the experience of improper emotions that may lead to anger.

In sum, I think that there are cultural differences in the elicitation/causes, values, and regulation of emotion. It is apparent that cultural differences in emotions are evident in American, Colombian and Iranian cultures. The Colombians’ emotions towards their society and families reveal their love for each other and I feel it is what makes them feel for each other and even express sadness whenever one of them is hurt or depressed. Iranian culture is generally characterized by their religious beliefs that emphasize obedience and family values. This kind of culture has significant influence on the way they express their emotions. On the other hand, the individualistic nature of Americans who think of themselves as individuals rather than a group encourages them to pursue happiness and other self-motivating emotions. This kind of culture really touches me emotionally and I feel that it is one of a kind in the world.