Emotion between Universalism and Relativism: Finding a Standard for Comparison in Cross-Cultural Emotion Research

doi:10.1017/9781108675475.009

8 - Emotion between Universalism and Relativism: Finding a Standard for Comparison in Cross-Cultural Emotion Research

from Part 2 - Individual Differences across Cultures

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 January 2021

Johnny R. J. Fontaine and

Seger M. Breugelmans

Edited by

Michael Bender and

Byron G. Adams

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Michael Bender: Affiliation:
Universiteit van Tilburg, The Netherlands
Byron G. Adams: Affiliation:
Universiteit van Tilburg, The Netherlands

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Summary

This chapter combines developments in the emotion literature with developments in cross-cultural methodology in order to formulate four recommendations that can bridge the gap between relativist and universalist views on cultural variation in emotion. We recommend that researchers (1) specify the emotions or facets of emotions they study, preferably using a multi-componential approach to assessing emotions; (2) check the equivalence across languages and cultures of the emotion vocabulary they use, either by existing data bases or by including the measurement of meaning in their design; (3) specify the level at which they compare emotions across cultures ranging from descriptions of culture-specific constructs to direct comparisons of mean scores, and apply adequate methods to demonstrate the level of comparability claimed; and (4) account for both similarities and differences when they formulate hypotheses, as well as when they interpret their data. These recommendations are illustrated with historical and contemporary cross-cultural emotion research.

Keywords

emotion culture universalism relativism multi-componential methods vocabulary GRID

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Type: Chapter
Information: Methods and Assessment in Culture and Psychology , pp. 144 - 169

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108675475.009 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2021

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