(Hitotsubashi University)
Culture and Systems of Emotions: Are Negative Emotions Inherently Harmful?
Many studies conducted in Western cultures indicate that negative emotions have adverse behavioral, physiological and health consequences. However, recent cross-cultural research found weaker evidence for the adverse effects of negative emotions in East Asian cultures, where relatively more favorable beliefs about negative emotions exist when compared to Western cultures. We postulate that sociocultural contexts characterized by certain beliefs about negative emotions make negative emotions more or less deleterious. In this talk, I will first explain our theoretical framework suggesting that whereas a contra-negative system of emotions is dominant in Western cultural contexts, a balanced system of emotions is predominant in East Asian cultural contexts. I will then introduce our recent studies testing behavioral, physiological, and mental health implications of different emotion systems and the underlying valuations of emotions. Future directions will also be discussed.