When holding in prevents from reaching out: Emotion suppression and social support-seeking in multicultural groups

Members of multicultural groups benefit from developing diverse social support networks. Engaging openly with people who have a different worldview (i.e., given by a different cultural background) broadens one’s cognitive horizons, facilitates one’s adaptation to new contexts, decreases stereotyping and discrimination and generally improves individual and group performance. However, if this social connection is hindered (either by limiting the number of people one reaches out to or in terms of preferring to connect to similar others), then the diversity advantage is lost – both for the individuals and for the groups. Through two case studies of professional groups with varying cultural diversity (moderate and superdiverse), we investigate the evolution of their members’ social support networks (i.e., to what extent and to whom they reach out for support) depending on (1) individuals’ habitual emotion suppression and (2) cultural orientation on the individualism-collectivism dimension. Results show that individualistic cultures suffer a double-whammy: when suppressing, their members seek less support (i.e., don’t reach out so much to ask for support) and tend to seek culturally similar others for it when they do. Suppressing collectivists are less affected in absolute levels of connectedness, but still prefer culturally similar others as sources of support. Our study offers an emotion-based view of why people stick together with similar others in diverse groups and how learning to better cope with emotions can make us more open-minded towards diversity in professional settings

Humiliated fury is not universal: the co-occurrence of anger and shame in the United States and Japan

It has been widely believed that individuals transform high-intensity shame into anger because shame is unbearably painful. This phenomenon was first coined “humiliated fury,” and it has since received empirical support. The current research tests the novel hypothesis that shame-related anger is not universal, yet hinges on the cultural meanings of anger and shame. Two studies compared the occurrence of shamerelated anger in North American cultural contexts (where shame is devalued and anger is valued) to its occurrence in Japanese contexts (where shame is valued and anger is devalued). In a daily-diary study, participants rated anger and shame feelings during shame situations that occurred over one week. In a vignette study, participants rated anger and shame in response to standardised shame vignettes that were generated in previous research by either U.S. or Japanese respondents. Across the two studies, and in line with previous research on humiliated fury, shame predicted anger for U.S. participants. Yet, neither in the daily diary study nor for the Japanese-origin vignettes, did we find shame-related anger in Japanese participants. Only when presented with U.S.-origin vignettes, did Japanese respondents in the vignette study report shame-related anger. The findings suggest that shame-related anger is a culture-specific phenomenon

Different Bumps in the Road: The Emotional Dynamics of Couple Disagreements in Belgium and Japan

In the present study, we propose that the emotional “bumps” that couples experience during relationship disagreements differ systematically among cultures. We predicted that self-assertive emotions such as anger or strength play a central role in Belgium, where they are instrumental for relational independence. In comparison, other-focused emotions such as shame or empathy for the partner should play a central role in Japan, where they support relational interdependence. Romantic couples from Belgium (n = 58) and Japan (n = 80) discussed relationship disagreements in the lab, which were video-recorded. After the interaction, participants separately rated their emotional experience during video-mediated recall. We identified the emotions that played a central role during the interactions in terms of attractors; these are the emotions around which couples stabilize and that likely play a central role in realizing different relationship ideals. In line with our predictions, attractors reflected states of the interpersonal emotional system that support independence in Belgium (e.g., angry or strong feelings) and interdependence (e.g., empathy) in Japan. Moreover, we found that—at least in Belgium—having more culturally typical interactions was associated with a stronger endorsement of culturally valued relationship ideals and, in turn, better relational functioning

Relatively Happy: The Role of the Positive-to-Negative Affect Ratio in Japanese and Belgian Couples

Satisfied couples in European-American cultural contexts experience higher ratios of positive to negative affect during interactions than their less satisfied counterparts. The current research tests the possibility that this finding is culture-bound. It compares proportions of positive to negative affect during couple interactions in two different cultural contexts: Belgium and Japan. Whereas Belgian relationship goals (e.g., mutual affirmation and self-esteem) call for the experience of positive affect, Japanese relationship goals (e.g., harmony and self-adjustment) call for the avoidance of negative affect. We propose that these differences result in different affect ratios in close relationships. To test this idea, we tracked positive and negative feelings during couple interactions. Fifty-eight Belgian and 80 Japanese romantic couples took part in a lab interaction study, in which they discussed a topic of disagreement. Using a video-mediated recall, participants rated their positive and negative feelings during the interaction; relationship satisfaction was assessed before the interaction. As expected, Belgian couples’ positive-to-negative affect ratios were more positive than those of Japanese couples. Furthermore, in both cultures relationship satisfaction was positively associated with more positive affect ratios, but this effect was significantly stronger for Belgian than Japanese couples. Finally, mediation analyses showed that higher affect ratios were achieved in culturally different and meaningful ways: satisfied Belgian couples showed higher ratios primarily through higher levels of positive feelings, whereas satisfied Japanese couples showed higher ratios primarily through lower levels of negative feelings

Coping with global uncertainty: Perceptions of COVID-19 psychological distress, relationship quality, and dyadic coping for romantic partners across 27 countries

Following the global outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020, individuals report psychological distress associated with the “new normal”—social distancing, financial hardships, and increased responsibilities while working from home. Given the interpersonal nature of stress and coping responses between romantic partners, based on the systemic transactional model this study posits that perceived partner dyadic coping may be an important moderator between experiences of COVID-19 psychological distress and relationship quality. To examine these associations, self-report data from 14,020 people across 27 countries were collected during the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic (March–July, 2020). It was hypothesized that higher symptoms of psychological distress would be reported post-COVID-19 compared to pre-COVID-19 restrictions (Hypothesis 1), reports of post-COVID-19 psychological distress would be negatively associated with relationship quality (Hypothesis 2), and perceived partner DC would moderate these associations (Hypothesis 3). While hypotheses were generally supported, results also showed interesting between-country variability. Limitations and future directions are presented

Emotion in Context: Constructions of Anger and Shame in Four Cultures

Do people experience anger and shame in similar or different ways across cultures? In this dissertation, I address this question in eight empirical studies across the United States, Japan, Belgium, and Turkey. Taking a three-pronged approach to studying cultural variation in the experience of anger and shame, I investigate across cultures (i) the components of meaning (i.e., appraisals and action tendencies) associated with anger and shame, (ii) how situations afford experiences of anger and shame, and (iii) if there are culturally typical patterns in the way situations and components of meaning, together, construct emotional experience. The studies are presented in the form of co-authored research articles (Chapters 2 6) that are embedded in an introduction and a conclusion (Chapters 1 and 7). In an epilogue, I take the findings of this dissertation as a starting point for a broader perspective on the sociocultural construction of emotion (Chapter 8).In a first study, I investigate cultural variation in the action component of emotional experience. Arguing from cultural differences in what constitutes good action, I show in an experience sampling study that those who engage in European-American contexts take a more influencing stance during emotional episodes, while those who engage in East-Asian contexts favor a more adjusting style of action (Chapter 2). Although not specific to anger and shame, this first study serves as a basis for what follows by showing that emotional experience varies across cultures in line with what is culturally desirable and beneficial. In the following six studies, I argue that the cultural practices especially the commonly encountered social situations in each culture afford anger and shame to the extent that these emotions are culturally desirable or beneficial. A questionnaire study in the independent U.S. and the interdependent Japanese context reveals that people are more likely to encounter situations that afford culturally condoned emotions (anger in the United States, shame in Japan), while they are less likely to encounter situations that afford condemned emotions (shame in the United States, anger in Japan). An associated card-sort study establishes that Americans and Japanese find those situations most angering and shameful that touch upon their central cultural concerns (Chapter 3). The next study replicates the situational affordance of anger and shame in two interdependent cultures, Turkey and Japan. I show that emotions that are beneficial for defending honor are afforded frequently in Turkey (both anger and shame), whereas emotions that are beneficial for keeping face are afforded frequently in Japan (shame, but not anger); additionally, I identify context-specific affordances within each culture (Chapter 4). In a series of studies comparing two independent cultural contexts the United States and Belgium I then expand the idea of affordances further: A questionnaire study and a content analysis reveal that people s cultural worlds foster differences in anger and shame not only bypromoting certain situations over others, but also by highlighting these emotions to different extents in popular children s books. Moreover, a word-association study shows that the semantic networks within each language (i.e., American English and Belgian Dutch) highlight different meanings of anger and shame in terms of the associated action components (Chapter 5).The final study addresses cultural variation in the components and situations of anger and shame jointly. A directed imagery task in the United States, Japan, and Belgium investigates both the extent to which components (i.e., appraisals and action tendencies) are elicited by anger and shame situations as well as how these components map onto anger and shame experience. Using an inductive analytic approach that identifies patterns in participants responses, I show that cultural variation in emotional experience is in the data: Culturally typical patterns of experiencing anger and shame stand out across cultures (Chapter 6).In conclusion, this dissertation identifies systematic cultural variation in the way people experience anger and shame. An overarching finding is that cultural differences in emotional experience correspond to the respective meanings and functions of anger and shame; this in itself is a universal finding. This dissertation also demonstrates what can be gained by conceiving of emotions as variable, contextualized constructions of meaning: Not only is this approach closer to people s actual experiences in each culture, it also studies emotions for what they are powerful connections between individual minds and social worlds.status: publishe

Adaptation of International Students in Japan : The Cultural Fit of Control Orientation

Ziel dieser Studie war es die Rolle der kulturellen Passung für die Anpassung von Austauschstudenten in Japan zu untersuchen. Das theoretische Konzept der kulturellen Passung (Ward & Chang, 1997) basiert auf der Annahme, dass Ähnlichkeit mit den kulturellen Gegebenheiten der Gastkultur hinsichtlich bestimmter Merkmale für die Anpassung von Austauschstudenten von Vorteil ist. Unter Berücksichtigung kulturinformierter Forschung bietet sich die Kontrollorientierung aufgrund ihrer Relevanz für soziale Interaktionen als zu untersuchendes Merkmal an: Während sekundäre Kontrolle, d.h. die Fähigkeit seine Bedürfnisse den Gegebenheiten anzupassen und letztere zu akzeptieren (Morling & Evered, 2006), in Japan hoch geschätzt wird, wird primäre Kontrolle weitgehend abgelehnt. Es wurde daher die Hypothese aufgestellt, dass Austauschstudenten, die hinsichtlich ihrer Kontrollorientierung den japanischen Präferenzen ähneln, psychologisch und soziokulturell besser angepasst sind. Die Teilnehmer (N = 92) füllten einen Online-Fragebogen aus, der Messverfahren zu globaler und situationaler Kontrollorientierung, soziokultureller Anpassung und psychologischer Anpassung (Depression, Lebenszufriedenheit, positiver und negativer Affekt) enthielt. Die kulturelle Passung der globalen Kontrollorientierung wurde für jeden Teilnehmer bestimmt, indem der Absolutbetrag der Differenz zum entsprechenden Mittelwert einer vorher erhobenen japanischen Stichprobe berechnet wurde. Hierarchische Regressionsanalysen zeigten, dass im Gegensatz zu der aufgestellten Hypothese eine bessere kulturelle Passung der globalen Kontrollorientierung mit weniger psychologischer Anpassung zusammenhing. Weiterhin hing primäre situationale Kontrollorientierung mit mehr - und nicht wie angenommen weniger - soziokultureller Anpassung zusammen. Post-hoc Analysen wiesen auf tendenzielle Unterschiede zwischen Austauschstudenten aus kollektivistischen und individualistischen kulturellen Kontexten hin. Die Ergebnisse und ihre Konsequenzen für zukünftige Forschung im Rahmen eines kulturellen Passungsmodells werden aus einer kulturinformierten Perspektive diskutiert

A socio-dynamic perspective on the construction of emotion

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Protecting Autonomy, Protecting Relatedness: Appraisal Patterns of Daily Anger and Shame in the United States and Japan

The present study tested the idea that U.S. and Japanese participants appraise anger and shame situations in line with the American concern for autonomy and the Japanese concern for relatedness, respectively. Sixty-five U.S. and 72 Japanese students participated in a 7-day diary study of anger and shame. Each day, participants reported their most important anger and shame incident and indicated whether they themselves or others were to be blamed (anger appraisals), and whether they focused on themselves or the opinion of others (shame appraisals). They also indicated whether they had experienced anger toward someone close or distant and whether their shame was publicly seen or privately felt. In line with the Japanese concern for protecting relatedness, Japanese compared to U.S. participants blamed themselves relatively more than others during anger situations with close others and focused on others rather than themselves during shame episodes that were publicly seen. Underlining the U.S. concern for protecting autonomy, Americans blamed others more than themselves during anger situations and focused more on themselves than others during shame situations

Emotion science needs to account for the social world

Emotions are complex processes that are constrained by biology, but not fully explained without taking the social context in which they develop into account. Mapping these contexts and understanding how and under which conditions they shape emotions is an essential task for the science of emotions; a task that —at least in psychology—has been neglected. The three commentaries each offer some interesting reflections on exactly this task.status: publishe