Emotions as Within or Between People? Cultural Variation in Lay Theories of Emotion Expression and Inference

Abstract

Four studies using open-ended and experimental methods test the hypothesis that in Japanese contexts, emotions are understood as between people, whereas in American contexts, emotions are understood as primarily within people. Study 1 analyzed television interviews of Olympic athletes. When asked about their relationships, Japanese athletes used significantly more emotion words than American athletes. This difference was not significant when questions asked directly about athletes' feelings. In Study 2, when describing an athlete's emotional reaction to winning, Japanese participants implicated others more often than American participants. After reading an athlete's self-description, Japanese participants inferred more emotions when the athlete mentioned relationships, whereas American participants inferred more emotions when the athlete focused only on herself (Study 3). Finally, when viewing images of athletes, Japanese participants inferred more emotions for athletes pictured with teammates, whereas American participants inferred more emotions for athletes pictured alone (Studies 4a and 4b).