Free Essay

Facial Expression of Emotions

In:

Submitted By adkinsdza
Words 1781
Pages 8
Running Head: Facial Expression of Emotions

FACIAL EXPRESSION OF EMOTIONS

Pysc 380 – Physiological Psychology

Abstract
Emotions are shown in many different ways. One way in which are emotions are show in is our facial expressions. Facial expressions are responses that are innate, unlearned, automatic behavior. What causes these innate responses and what do they mean? There have been many articles and studies done on trying to understand all possible aspects of human and animal facial expressions. The emotional aspects of these facial expressions are vastly different. The goal of this paper is to better understand, both psychologically and physiologically, the nature of communication of emotions through facial expressions. Facial Expression of Emotions The warmth of a smile or a face contorted in anger, facial expressions tell the world our emotional state. Facial expressions relay information faster than words can be spoken. Ralph Adolphs wrote an article entitled “Perception and Emotion, How we recognize Facial Expressions.” In this article the author states on how some emotional responses through facial expressions are so fast that it is not possible for someone to be aware of the stimulus (Adolphs, 2006.) There have been many studies of how facial expressions can create activity almost immediately in a person’s brain. These studies are of importance because it helps the theory that cognitive judgment and affect are two separate processes in the brain. The studies also elaborate more knowledge of visual consciousness (Adolphs, 2006.) Starting as early as Darwin, various studies have been done relating to the emotions of facial expressions. In establishing that facial expressions are natural, unlearned responses, Darwin studied various cultures around the world. He discovered that humans, irregardless of their society, shared facial expressions to show emotion. This is not true for language. When a society is isolated, it develops its own distinct language. Research done by Ekman and Friesen confirmed that theory when they studied the language and facial expressions of an isolated tribe in New Guinea (Carlson, 2008). Human beings recognize the emotions of others through sight and sound. Researchers have found that the right hemisphere of the human brain is more prominent in facilitating the awareness of others’ emotions than the left hemisphere.
The emotion a facial expression gives creates activity in the amygdala, which is located in the medial temporal lobe of the brain. Although the amygdale is heavily involved in the process, the amygdala is not the only brain structure involved. Studies have shown that a substantial number of other brain structures participate (Adolphs, 2006). Visual areas in the temporal cortex take the features of the face and convert them to a global perceptual representation of the face (Adolphs, 2006). Subcortical visual areas perform faster, and somewhat coarser, processing of the face. The subcortical and cortical both send visual information concerning the face into the amygdale. At that point, the amygdale associates the visual representation of the face with emotional responses. Studies have further shown that the amygdale is extremely important in detecting the emotions of fear and disgust. In response to an emotional expression of fear, the amygdala receives visual information of a primitive nature from the superior colliculus and pulvinar. The information, in turn, is used in making judgments regarding the expression of fear.
True facial expressions of emotion cannot be faked. When a smile is genuine, the lateral part of the orbicularis oculi (known as Duchenne’s muscle) contracts. This does not happen with a forced smile. Expressions of emotion, when real and not forced, are controlled by neural circuits. This fact is borne out by volitional facial paresis and emotional facial paresis. A patient with volitional facial paresis cannot voluntarily move the muscles on his face. He can, however, express emotion that is genuine with those same muscles. The opposite is true with emotional facial paresis. A patient with this condition can move the muscles on their face voluntarily, but cannot express facial emotion with the side of their face that is affected. Facial expressions of emotion can be powerful stimuli. By observing facial expressions, people can avoid conflict, observe others’ emotions to learn how to react in social settings, and discover the attitudes of those around them. To be able to correctly identify other people’s facial expressions of emotion is very important to interact in society. If a person cannot identify facial expressions of emotions correctly, there can be negative consequences. People with depression often have difficulty in processing emotional stimuli. This can create interpersonal problems and may contribute to the continuation of the depression (Joormann & Gotlib, 2006). Some studies in which people were given pictures of faces and asked to identify the emotional expressions resulted in the theory that depression can be associated with a deficit in perception of facial expression emotions. Other studies have theorized that people with depression have a bias in labeling facial expressions of emotion. These theories concerning depression highlight the importance of accurately identifying facial expressions of emotion in society. The interpretation of facial expressions is, indeed, vital for social communication (Hadj-Bouziane, Bell, Knusten, Ungerleider and Tootell, 2008). However, there is little value to emotional facial expressions unless there is someone to communicate with. While facial expressions are widely accepted as natural and innate, studies have also shown that facial expressions showing emotion increase with social interaction. Understanding the importance of the amygdala’s reaction to emotional stimuli is important in connection with the study of antisocial behavior. A recent study concluded that conduct problems in children may predict health or psychiatric problems later in life (Jones, Laurens, Herba, Barker and Viding, 2009). The study involved a group of boys with conduct problems and high levels of callous-unemotional traits and a comparison group of boys. The participants viewed presentations of neutral and fearful faces.
Brain imaging showed that by middle childhood, amygdala involvement in the processing of facial expressions of emotions had already developed. The study revealed that both groups of boys showed increased activity in the right and left amygdala when viewing fearful faces as opposed to the neutral faces. However, the group of boys with the conduct problems showed only left-side amygdale activation to fearful faces. This group showed relatively decreased amygdale activity to fearful faces in the right amygdala. Results with studies such as this one may open the door to identifying and treating emotionally-impaired children before adulthood. Another very interesting study was done regarding emotional facial stimuli and social anxiety disorder (SAD). Social anxiety disorder reduces quality of life. Social anxiety disorder patients have shown a recognition bias with threatening facial expressions. Previous studies have found that photographs of angry people have caused amygdala hyper-responsivity in people with SAD.
This study wanted to see if angry simple line drawings would cause stronger amygdalar responses in people with SAD. The study involved 11 people with the disorder and 11 people in a healthy control group. Both groups were presented neutral, happy, and angry schematic faces. Brain imaging showed the group with the disorder had exaggerated responses in the right amygdala for the angry faces versus the neutral faces when compared to the results of the healthy group (Evans, Wright, Wedig, Gold, Pollack and Rauch, 2008). This result was the same as the study which used photographs. Humans are not the only ones who show emotions by facial expressions. Monkeys also show emotions with facial expression. In groups of monkeys living in the wild, the interpretation of their facial expressions can be critical for survival. An expression of fear could indicate the presence of a predator and the need for the group’s retreat.
In an attempt to examine neutral responses in monkeys, while drawing comparisons across species, a recent test was conducted on three monkeys. Four groups of different monkey facial expressions were presented to the monkeys. The groups of facial expressions were aggressive, neutral, submissive, and fearful (Hadj-Bouziane et al., 2008). The results of this test concluded that the amygdale and the inferior temporal cortex are modulated in the monkeys by facial expressions. The monkeys had the greatest response to the fearful expressions, just as humans also react strongest to faces showing fear. As we can see from the multitude of studies, facial expression and emotions go hand in hand, as does emotions and anxiety disorders. Pharmaceutical drugs can help many of these anxiety disorders but to better understand them researchers use a face assessment task (Arce, Simons, Lovero, Stein and Paulus, 2007.) Tests regarding the use of drug therapy to effect emotional processing have been performed. Such a test was conducted with subjects taking either medication (Lorazepam) or a placebo for 21 days. This test was approved by the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. The participants were screened by blood test to ensure they were able to participate in the test. The subjects were tested by matching emotions to faces on a computer screen. The emotions were angry, fearful, and happy. In this test, there were also give a configuration of oval and circles and were told to match the shapes. The results showed that the medication caused an attenuation of BOLD activity in the amygdale for negative faces (Arce et al. 2007). Tests such as these realize the role in depression and anxiety for amygdala activation. Malfunction of the amygdale has been connected to depression, social anxiety disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. The possibility of medication to correct this malfunctioning appears to be promising. References
Adolphs, R. (2006). Perception and Emotion, How We Recognize Facial Expressions. Current Directions in Psychological Science (Vol. 15, pp. 222-226).

Arce, E., Simmons, A. N., Lovero, K. L., Stein, M. B. & Paulus, M. (2008). Escitalopram effects on insula and BOLD amygdala activation during emotional processing. Psychopharmacology, 196:661-672.

Carlson, Neil R. (2008). Foundations of Physiological Psychology. Boston: Pearson.

Evans, K. C., Wright, C. I., Wedig, M. M., Gold, A. L., Pollack, M. H. & Rauch, M. D. (2008). A Functional MRI Study of Amygdala Responses to Angry Schematic Faces in Social Anxiety Disorder. Depression and Anxiety, 25: 496-505.

Hadj-Bouziane, F., Bell, A. H., Kusten, T. A., Ungerleider, L. G. & Tootell, R. B. H. (2008). Perception of emotional expressions is independent of face selectivity in monkey inferior temporal cortex. PNAS (Vol. 105, No. 14, 5591-5596).

Jones, A. P., Laurens, K. R., Herba, C. M., Barker, G. J. & Viding, E. (2009). Amygdala Hypoactivity to Fearful Faces in Boys with Conduct Problems and Callous-Unemotional Traits. American Journal of Psychiatry, 166: 95-102.

Joormann, J. & Gotlib, I. H. (2006). Is this Happiness I see? Biases in the Identification of Emotional Facial Expressions in Depression and Social Phobia. Journal of Abnormal Psychology (Vol. 115, No. 4, 705-714).

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Psy 355

...Research Methods To determine how one would analyze research methods for uncovering basic emotions, one must first understand what the basic emotions consist. Deckers stated, “Psychologists have classified emotions into basic categories” (2010, p. 315). The three basic theories of human emotions are category analysis evolution theory and facial expressions. The evolutionary theory and facial expressions theory will be discussed. Evolutionary Theory Evolutionary. Within the research method of evolution theory, is how emotions influence human and animal survival. This theory identifies eight emotions that correlate to functions required for the continued survival of the species in question. For instance, an emotion of one’s fear aids protection of a species as it provokes running to safety, thus promoting survival. Within the evolution theory these eight emotions, which are crucial for survival, include reproduction, incorporation, orientation, reintegration, fear, destruction, exploration, and rejection (Deckers, 2010). Another example is in some young animals have a response, which makes them freeze. This response is triggered by fear if the animal feels threatened by predators. The animal will immediately stop all movement and freeze in place making it harder for a predator to track their movements (Deckers, 2010). This type of behavior is also seen in humans threatened by danger, some will become almost catatonic in a state of shock unable to move talk or follow simple...

Words: 431 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Emotions

...Specific Emotion Perception Carrie Camp, Patti Cuddeback, and Jillian Taylor Guilford College Abstract Social roles and emotions were examined with a female model. The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of social role on gender specific facial expressions. It was predicted that women’s facial expressions connected with supervisory position will be rated as more masculine and women’s facial expression connected with subordinate or employee status will be rated as more feminine. Sixty nine individuals participated in our study. They were randomly assigned to read a scenario about either CEO, department manager or an entry level female and rate the female facial expression provided. Seven different emotions were rated which included disgust, anger, fear, happiness, neutral, sadness and surprise, on a seven-point Likert-type scale. After data was collected, perceived emotional intensity was measured and analyzed using a total feminine emotion score. Results showed that there was no difference in perceived emotional intensity based occupation level or gender of participant. These findings suggest that social roles are not a factor in perceived emotion level within a target; however future research should use a measure that equally describes both masculine stereotyped emotions and feminine stereotyped emotions. Keywords: perception, facial expressions, stereotypes, emotional expressions. The Effect of Social Role on Gender Specific Emotion Perception ...

Words: 2509 - Pages: 11

Free Essay

Emotions Revealed

...Study of Emotions Emotions are an essential aspect of communication, therefore it is impossible to not analyze how we think and behave. In every conversation or interaction with another individual, our mind continues to interpret the message the person is projecting. Studying emotions is necessary when it comes to understanding each other; every culture has expressions that can speak louder than words. For instance, Hispanics tend to engage in deep eye contact to show respect, and sometimes they nod their heads to convey approval. On the other hand, the Chinese population considers the act staring disrespectful. If emotions are studied professionals are able to understand and become familiarized with the person’s feelings. I believe that doctors and nurses benefit the most from learning emotions. By doing so they are able to make better assessments, and at the same time respect the individual’s beliefs. Studying emotions is a positive step towards relationship development and understanding. In the end, it is inevitable to ignore a certain gesture or action throughout our day. Universal Emotional Expressions I agree with the conclusion that emotional expressions are universal; they will always influence each role of our lives. For the most part, without regards to an individual’s nationality we are able to determine if someone is feeling happy or depressed. In other words, it is easy to distinguish happiness from sadness. There are characteristics in facial expressions that will...

Words: 938 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Emotions

...Emotions Paper Psy/355 August 18, 2014 Introduction Emotion is a complex, subjective experience accompanied by biological and behavioral changes. Emotion involves feeling, thinking, and activation of the nervous system, physiological changes, and behavioral changes such as facial expressions. Different theories exist regarding how and why people experience emotions. These include evolutionary theories, the James-Lange Theory, the Cannon-Bard theory, Schacter and Singer’s two-factor theory, and cognitive appraisal. Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion Walter Bradford Cannon was best known for his developments in homeostasis; however he developed a theory of emotion called the Cannon-Bard theory. In the years of 1915 to 1920, Cannon began performing experiments to suggest that emotions came before reaction. “For example, Cannon surgically removed the entire SNS of a cat and found that whilst this abolished physical signals of arousal, the cat still showed anger, fear and pleasure. Cannon therefore argued that we are capable of feeling emotion before any bodily changes have taken place”. (Open. Web) He refined his results and expanded on the views and developed this new theory that was opposite of the present theories of the time, his theory was thought to be more sensible. According to the theory, arousal is something that does not have to come before an emotion. “It is suggested that emotions result when the thalamus sends a message to the brain in response to a stimulus...

Words: 1947 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

The Emotions of Us

...The Emotions of Us Team B August 5, 2014 University of Phoenix PSY/355 One very popular method for uncovering basic emotions is through facial expressions. From the moment we are born we demonstrate emotion through facial expressions. In babies, it is very important that they are able to demonstrate their feelings through facial expressions. There are many different kinds of emotions that every human being experiences during certain situations. Some emotions would be anger, sadness, fear, happiness, love, surprise, anxiety, amongst many others. Facial expressions make it very simple to be able to notice what kind of emotion the individual is going through. Babies are unable to communicate by speech or bodily gestures when they are born or in their first years of life, therefore it is very important for people to be able to associate the baby’s facial expression to their emotion. When a baby is sad they will make a certain facial expression letting the parents know something is wrong. Same goes if the baby was in pain, hungry, or tired. Because kids and adults are able to speak and communicate both through speech and body language, it might make it seem as if facial expressions were no longer needed to know how someone is feeling, but in research it is still very important. For example, a doctor would be able to tell if his patient is in pain or afraid even if they do not want to let the doctor know something is wrong just by the patient’s facial expression. Social workers...

Words: 986 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Consumer Behaviour Based on Facial Expressions

...! ! ! ! Consumer Behaviour Based On Facial Expressions ! ! ! Thesis Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of BITS C421T/422T ! Thesis By
 Utkarsh Agarwal, 2010A4TS312H ! ! Under the supervision of ! Mr. Durgesh Chandra Pathak ! ! BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE, PILANI HYDERABAD CAMPUS ! 12th March, 2014 ! ! ! ! Table Of Contents ! Abstract Introduction Universal Emotions Enjoyable Emotions Other Universal Emotions Decision-Making Process Consumer Psychology Facial Expressions in Marketing Conclusion 3 4 6 8 9 10 13 16 16 ! ! MID SEMESTER THESIS REPORT PAGE "2 OF "16 ! ! ! ! ! Abstract This thesis investigates the possibility and applications of measuring universal emotions and customer behaviour in retail environments from a marketing and advertising point of view using automated computerised systems. ! We start by exploring the theoretical findings from scientific literature, and describes the essence of universal emotions and their effect on decision-making process, examining how far emotions influence customers ́ purchases, recommendations and product evaluation. ! ! ! Then we explore some of the existing research done on automated facial expression and consumer behaviour recognition techniques and finally their implications and applications in various fields. The research might interest retail companies, particularly their marketing and sales professionals, as it demonstrates how...

Words: 4283 - Pages: 18

Premium Essay

Motivated Emotions

...Motivated Emotions Introduction Motivation is a far-reaching concept that affects emotions. Emotion is described as a sensation that is experienced as arousal (Deckers, 2005). The difference in motivation and emotions is that emotions don’t always have a goal to reach like motivation does. However, the emotions that are felt can either strengthen or weaken the motivation that is experienced. These two components are different in not only kind but also in the intensity that is behind the experience. Motivation and emotions are important parts of all people’s lives. Theories A theory that describes emotion and arousal as it relates to human motivation is the James-Lange theory. The James-Lange theory states that emotions are a product of different bodily changes. Basically what the theory means is that emotions are feelings that are caused by physiological changes brought on by the nervous system. The theory is based off the observation that when people have an emotion it goes along with one’s body parts. An example of an emotion correlating with body parts would be anger. When someone is angry one tends to squint his or her eyes, tighten muscles, and sometimes the heart rate increases. The theory is kind of backwards compared to others. The James-Lange theory states that physiological changes are what cause one’s emotions instead of the other way around. The theorist William James stated that one could say that a person feels sad because he weeps, not...

Words: 1416 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Borderline Personality Disorder

...Literature Review Homework #3 1. What factors affect facial expression sensitivity in patients diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder? 2. The keywords that I used to search for articles on this topic were BPD and facial expression sensitivity, BPD and facial recognition in adolescence. 3. On PubMed, I searched using the keywords BPD and facial expression sensitivity and the search returned 21 results. On PsychNet, I searched using the keywords of BPD facial expression sensitivity and the search only returned 4 results. I also searched on Google Scholar with the search terms of BPD and facial recognition in adolescence and it returned 18,700 results. 4. Article #1 Citation: Daros, A. R., Uliaszek, A. A., & Ruocco, A. C. (2014). Perceptual biases in facial emotion recognition in borderline personality disorder. Personality...

Words: 685 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Emotions In The Odyssey

...illustrations express emotions without using words? The Odyssey by Gareth Hinds epitomizes a graphic novel in which pictures express the majority of the story. The novel contains many scenes without words. In those scenes, Gareth Hinds portrays the emotions in a multitude of ways. Gareth Hinds conveys the emotions of the wordless scenes through the combination of the different arrangements of the scenes and the illustrations of the characters involved in the scenes. Firstly, Gareth Hinds communicates the emotions of the wordless scenes through his different arrangements of the scenes. Arrangements of the scenes includes the contrast, composition and colors. First, the contrast of the scenes depicts emotions. Contrast...

Words: 758 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Facial Expressions

...A person is able to convey a lot with just a facial expression. A smile can signify happiness, while a frown can signal unhappiness. In some cases, our facial expressions can show our true feelings when in certain situations. At times we try to hide our true feelings and say we are okay but our facial expressions might signal otherwise. People often blink faster when in an uncomfortable situation. Blinking less frequently may show that a person is intentionally trying to control their eye movements. Poker players have to remain calm they use this technique; they might blink less frequently because they are purposely trying to appear unexcited about the hand that was dealt. Facial expressions are also among the most universal forms of body language. The expressions used to convey fear; anger, sadness, and happiness are similar throughout the world. Darwin was the first to suggest that facial expressions were universal his ideas about emotions were a centerpiece of his theory of evolution suggesting that “emotions and their expressions were biologically innate and evolutionary adaptive, and that similarities in them could be seen phylogenetically. However the dominant perspective in psychology was that facial expressions were culture-specific – that is, just as every culture had its own verbal language, it had its own language of facial expressions” (Matsumoto, Hwang). Women are better than men at reading facial expressions according to a study published by Neuropsychologia ”Evolutionary...

Words: 335 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animal

...Charles Darwin’s Work in the Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals Kyubin Kim Texas A&M University-Commerce Charles Darwin’s Work in the Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals There are major works done by Charles Darwin such as The Origin of Species or Decent of Man. Among them, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals is also one of the major works of Charles Darwin. This book was published in 1872 and was an astonishing bestseller. After more than 100 years, a new edition of Darwin’s masterpiece is published edited by Paul Ekman who is one of the world’s leading authorities on facial expressions. The third edition contains the changes Darwin had wanted at that time, but it doesn’t cover much of it. While reading the book, it is easy to understand why Expression causes such an impression nowadays. Darwin in his book mentioned the things of our everyday life such as anger, joy, love, guilt, disgust, horror, modesty, and sulkiness. In addition, he also gives a scientific renovation to this. Darwin argued that human emotions are universal, and these emotions are derived and evolves from those animals. When the book was published, it was forgotten and ignored for a long time because its’ subject matter came to be at the center of not only scientific, but also of controversy and political. Back in time, various theories of world existed and the facts of human emotions were shaped by our experiences or by our biology theory were never going to be...

Words: 2280 - Pages: 10

Free Essay

Are Emotions Universal?

...Are Emotions Universal?     It all starts with Darwin In The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872) Darwin stated that “the same state of mind is expressed throughout the world with remarkable uniformity . . .” His evidence for universality was the answers to 16 questions he sent to Englishmen living or travelling in eight parts of the world: Africa, America, Australia, Borneo, China, India, Malaysia and New Zealand. The questions asked whether they saw the same expressions of emotion in these foreign lands as they had known in England … and they said they did. Darwin concluded from this that emotions are the same everywhere.   Modern Evidence from Literate Cultures In modern ‘judgment studies’ native subjects from many countries were studied. They were shown photographs of facial expression and asked to identify what emotion was shown from a list of six to ten possible choices. If emotions are universal then people from different countries should ascribe the same emotion to the same photographs. The figure below shows six of the photographs used by Silvan Tomkins in 1962:     Data was collected on 21 literate countries: Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, England, Estonia, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Kirghizistan, Malaysia, Scotland, Sweden, Indonesia (Sumatra), Switzerland, Turkey and the USA and the results suggest that, across all cultures, people are very good at recognizing happiness, anger, fear, sadness, disgust and...

Words: 772 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Five Emotions In Disney Pixar's Movie 'Inside Out'

...her five emotions shape her perception and transitioning into her preteen years. Scientist Dacher Keltner and Paul Ekman served as consultants for the movie, making it their goal for the public to understand these five emotions and how function in the brain. In the article “The Science of “Inside Out”, they stress the idea that emotions are what makes individuals perceive the world, and how we act upon events that happens in our lives. They state that after the age of eleven “positive emotions” drop rapidly in “frequency and intensity” (Keltner and Ekman). In this movie the main character Riley is mostly expressed in Joy, nonetheless, the star of the film is Sadness, demonstrating it “as a drag” in Riley’s life. Sadness plays an important role due to the fact that it shows how Riley perceives certain phases of her life;...

Words: 801 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Case Incident Term Paper

...1. What factors do you think make some organizations ineffective at managing emotions? Some factors that make some organizations ineffective at managing emotions could managers don’t understand psychology, or the organization does not offer programs such as anger management to employees. Emotions are strong feelings directed at someone or something (Organizational Behavior, page 98). Some managers do not have any experience handling employee’s emotions, or they may not know how to approach any issues dealing with emotions. Understanding emotions is important for organizations and managers to understand, because detecting emotions can lead to creating an effective environment. So I think organizations should offer employees a training session or show a video on how to manage emotions in the workplace, and to have guidelines on how to manage emotions in the organization. Handling emotions in the workplace will create a positive atmosphere, and will improve production in the organization.   2. Do you think the strategic use and display of emotions serve to protect employees, or does covering your true emotions at work lead to more problems than it solves? I think the use of strategic use and display of emotions serve to protect employees for a reason, and that even though you cover your true emotions in certain situations it’s best for the organization. Displayed emotions are those that the organization requires workers to show and considers appropriate...

Words: 1703 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

U05D1 Regulation of Emotions

...U05d1 Regulation of Emotions Have you ever notice how people from different cultures express themselves? Having emotion is a universal expression of human occurrence. Human emotions have developed into a multifaceted and distinguish influence. However verbal communication let human beings construct excellent characteristics along with emotions, and culture is a significant cause when understanding emotions. Altogether human beings in every culture have emotions, and we have primarily similar kinds of emotions (i.e., anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise). Consequently emotion is a universal force within the human race. However, in understanding the correlation between human emotion and culture, one must be aware of the fact that not all emotions should be measured the alike (Matsumoto & Juang, 2013). Moreover, cultural regulation of emotion plays a major role in how people from diverse cultures express themselves. In beginning, cultural regulate our biologically-based basic emotions. Then cultures help to construct distinct emotional occurrences that go farther than the basic emotions. And lastly, cultures help to construct perceptions, meaning, attitudes, values, and beliefs about emotion (Matsumoto & Juang, 2013). For example, during a visit to the doctor’s office, I encountered a Japanese family (i.e., father, mother and son), who brought their son in for his annual school physical. While I set in the next room, I began focusing unconcernedly...

Words: 634 - Pages: 3