Revisiting diversity: cultural variation reveals the constructed nature of emotion perception. (October 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gendron, Maria
• Is Part Of: Current opinion in psychology. Volume 17(2017)
• Page Start: 145
• Page End: 150
• Publication Date: 2017-10
• Subjects: Psychology -- Periodicals; 150.5
• DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.07.014
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2352-250X

Abstract

Highlights: Supportive results for universality of emotion perception are method-bound. Cultural variation is observed in the specific cues that are prioritized by perceivers and attributions (as mental states, actions, social motives) made about those cues. Innovations in operationalizing culture promise to provide deeper insight into the sources of variation in emotion perception. Abstract : The extent of cultural variation in emotion perception has long been assumed to be bounded by underlying universality. A growing body of research reveals, however, that evidence of universality in emotion perception is method-bound. Without the assumption of underlying universality, new lines of inquiry become relevant. Accumulating evidence suggests that cultures vary in what cues are relevant to perceptions of emotion. Further, cultural groups vary in their spontaneous inferences; mental state inference does not appear to be the only, or even most routine, mode of perception across cultures. Finally, setting universality assumptions aside requires innovation in the theory and measurement of culture. Recent studies reveal the promise of refinements in psychological approaches to culture. Together, the available evidence is consistent with a view of emotion perceptions as actively constructed by perceivers to fit the social and physical constraints of their cultural worlds.