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I love psychology especially when Dr. Summerville teaches it.

Emotion judgments

Researchers have often wondered if people across various cultures interpret emotions in similar ways. In the field of cross-cultural psychology Paul Ekman has conducted research examining judgments in facial expression cross-culturally. One of his studies included participants from ten different cultures who were required to indicate emotions and the intensity of each emotion. In result, the study showed that there was agreement across cultures as to which emotion was the most intense and the second most intense. These findings provide support to the view that some cross-cultural psychologists hold in which there are universal facial expressions of emotion. Nevertheless, it is also important to note that in the study there were differences in the way in which participants across cultures rated emotion intensity.

While there are said to be universally recognized facial expressions, Yueqin Huang (2001) and his colleagues performed research that looked at how a culture may put different labels on certain expressions of emotions. Huang et al. (2001) in particularly examined Chinese perceptions in comparison to American perceptions of facial emotion expressions. They found that the Chinese participants are not as skilled as the American participants at perceiving the universal emotional expressions on people of a culture different than their own. These findings show support for the notion that there is a cross-cultural difference present in emotional judgement. Huang et al. (2001) suggests that Asians may use different cues on the face to interpret the emotional expression. Also, because every culture has different values and norms, it is important to analyze those differences in order to gain a better understanding as to why certain emotions are interpreted differently or not at all. For example, as Huang et al. (2001) point out, it is common for ‘negative emotions’ not to be welcome in many Asian cultures. This important information may be critical in recognizing the cross-cultural difference between Asian and American judgements of the universal emotional expressions.

Etic v. emic

Other fields of psychology focus on how personal relationships impact human behavior; however, they fail to take into account the significant power that culture may have on human behavior. The Malinowskian dictum focuses on the idea that there is a necessity to understand culture of a society in its own terms instead of the common search of finding a universal law that applies to all human behavior. Cross-culture psychologists have used the emic/tetic distinction for some time. The emic approach studies behavior from within the culture, and mostly is based on one culture; the etic approach studies behavior from outside the culture system, and is based on many cultures. Currently, many psychologists conducting cross-cultural research use what is called a pseudoetic approach. This is actually an emit based approach, developed in a Western culture and is in result, based to work as an etic approach. Irvine and Carroll brought an intelligence test to another culture without checking whether the test was measuring what it is supposed to measure. This is pseudoetic work because various cultures have their own concepts for intelligence. Consequently, this way of measurement may not produce accurate results due to that fact that the instruments used are focused around American theories and then translated and applied in other cultures.

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How different cultures resolve conflict

Grossmann et al. use evidence to show how cultures differ in the ways they approach social conflict and how culture continues to be an important factor in human development even into old age. Specifically, the paper examines aging-related differences in wise reasoning among the American and Japanese cultures. Participant responses revealed that wisdom (e.g., recognition of multiple perspectives, the limits of personal knowledge, and the importance of compromise) increased with age among Americans, but older age was not directly associated with wiser responses amongst the Japanese participants. Furthermore, younger and middle-aged Japanese participants illustrated higher scores than Americans for resolving group conflicts. Grossmann et al. found that Americans emphasize individuality and solve conflict in a direct manner, while the Japanese place an emphasis on social cohesion and settle conflict more indirectly. The Japanese are motivated to maintain interpersonal harmony and avoid conflict, resolve conflict better, and are wiser earlier in their lives. Americans experience conflict gradually, which results in continuous learning about how to solve conflict and increased wisdom in their later years. The current study supported the concept that varying cultures use different methods to resolve conflict. These findings support the idea that conflict is dealt with and resolved differently across cultures. DELETE

Differences in conflict resolution across cultures can also be seen with the inclusion of a third party. These differences can be found when the third party becomes involved and provides a solution to the conflict. Asian and American cultural practices play a role in the way each handles conflict. A technique used by Korean-Americans may reflect Confucian values while the American technique will be consistent with their capitalistic views. Americans will have more structure in their processes which provides standards for similar situations in the future. Contrary to American ways, Korean-Americans will not have as much structure in resolving their conflicts, but more flexibility while solving a problem. For Korean-Americans, the correct way may not always be set but can usually be narrowed down to a couple possible solutions.