PGCC Individual Emotions Essay

I’m working on a psychology discussion question and need an explanation and answer to help me learn.

Topic 1

A. How do people’s cultural ideas and practices shape their emotions (and other types of feelings)?

Cultural ideas and practices have been found to help shape people’s individual emotions and feelings. Cultural and social norms help shape these ideas. For example, in western culture individualism is highly encouraged. Being an individual and separating oneself from others is highly encouraged. In eastern culture, being a part of society and prioritizing the group over personal needs is more encouraged. Having a connection to others as a part of a collective is more encouraged. People who live in a country like the United States are more likely to have more selfish intentions and are more likely to described themselves when asked to finish the sentence “I am…”. People who live in a country like Japan are more likely to suppress their own beliefs to fit in and are more likely to describe their roles in society when asked to finish the sentence “I am…” (Tsai, 2021). 

B. Provide an example of an emotion that may be perceived “positively” in one culture, but “negatively” in another culture.

In North American context, individual achievement is celebrated and is always seen as something to feel good about. In East Asian context, individual achievement is definitely something to feel good about, however it is more likely that whoever had that achievement would downplay their own achievement and think about the group as a whole, resulting in having mixed emotions about achieving something.  

References

Tsai, J. (2021). Culture and Emotion. NOBA Textbook Series: Psychology. https://nobaproject.com/modules/culture-and-emotion

Topic 2

In many cultures, including those in American society, successful women downplay their accomplishments.  In a Forbes 2019 article that went viral, the author stated that women are taught to tone down their enthusiasm about their skills and abilities or risk getting labeled negatively with terms that rarely apply to men doing the same thing (Seale, 2019). The article states that men delivering firm instructions are viewed as decisive leaders, but women are labeled bossy. Men who lose their tempers with subordinates are passionate, but women are labelled overly emotional. These negative perceptions of successful women in the workplace present real risks for women navigating these unfair expectations to cautiously ensure their humility does not transform into self-deprecation (Seale, 2019).

I have a friend who is Asian.  She has accomplished a great deal in her career and a great leader of her teams.  When speaking with her about her accomplishments, she will immediately shy away from the conversation, downplay her accomplishments and say she doesn’t want to talk about them.  However, I notice that she will smile when speaking about my accomplishments and the accomplishments of others.   
 

Research teams have observed that in East Asian cultures a positive achievement for one person could cause another to feel something negative, with mixed emotions as the result.  Therefore, East Asians are more likely to feel mixed emotions about positive accomplishments compared with North Americans (Tsai, 2021).  I never asked my friend why she downplays her accomplishments or informed her that I noticed she does it, but after reading the referenced Culture and Emotion article, I think I may discuss it with her.