Asian Culture Vs American Culture

Out of every emotion that exists, there are six prime emotions that are considered as the

“universal emotions”. This is because the facial expressions for these six emotions (happiness,

sadness, surprise, fear, disgust, anger) are identical universally. However, different cultures may

recognize and display emotions differently, such as the comparison of the Asian and American

cultures. This difference in recognizing and displaying emotions between these two cultures has

to do with the fact that the asian culture is a collectivist culture, while the american culture is an

individualistic culture. In a collectivist culture the people are group oriented, meaning their

connection with other people is important to them. In the collectivist

Emotional display is when you are looking at how the emotion is demonstrated, to

who it is demonstrated to, and when it is demonstrated. In the Asian culture, because they are

collectivist and rely on harmony within one another, their expression of emotions are very

limited. To them the expression of strong emotions is seen as a gateway to disturb the harmony

of interactions which is highly looked up upon. On the other hand, in the american culture the

expression of emotions is important to them, it is a way to show one’s individualism and

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uniqueness. This individualistic culture sees emotional display as self comfort and as an

expression of ones individuality. For instance, in China it is very unlikely to hear someone say “I

love you” to their loved ones unless they feel it is imperative, such as in a life altering

Strangely the people from the Asian culture rated their anger level much higher than the people

did from the American culture. On the chart in the row for additional comments, many of the

Asians wrote that they felt pain in their chest while dealing with the clerk. "The Chinese

“somaticize” their emotions. In this view, rather than expressing/experiencing emotions verbally

and behaviorally, the Chinese manifest emotions as physical or bodily symptoms related to

illness. If true, this “somaticizing” of emotions may provide a culturally condoned outlet for

emotional expression (e.g., complaining of a stomach ache when angry) when other forms of

expressions may be considered inappropriate (e.g., yelling at your employer).” (Soto, Levenson,

& Ebling, 2005). It is not shocking that the results of the individuals from the same culture were

immensely similar to one another, while the results of the individuals from the two opposing

cultures were extremely dissimilar. People handle situations and feel differently about them

depending on their cultural beliefs. Culture effects peoples mindset, beliefs, and practices in