Cultural Influences On Emotional Expression and Perception

Everyone is uniquely shaped, and should not be compared with others. Expressing ourselves can differentiate from other expressions since we are unique in each and every way. Some similarities may exist, but not necessarily every aspect of what we tend to express. As defined in the textbook, "emotional expression is the most important representation of our emotions, and may be similar to others" (Adler, Proctor, and Towne 137). Perception is part of the emotional expression because "it is the process of selecting, acquiring, interpreting, and organizing sensory information" (wikipedia.org). These two are important because we express what we express with the perception of our emotional expression. Different situations will result in different perception of emotional expression. For example, we may jump when we feel excitement or cry when we feel grief. Every expression we make is appropriate on what we feel in that particular event. We live in a country with a very diverse culture, and everyone is raise differently base on their culture. This paper will talk about the cultural influences on emotional expression and perception. Examples, description, and explanation will also be given to further explain the topic.

Although many emotions and expressions of emotions are universal, some differences exist among many cultures. The comparison of both cultural similarity and difference has been very important in the area of emotional expression and perception (Matsumoto par. 2). It is very helpful to know the similarities and differences in emotion across cultures. It helps us understand the role of emotion in our lives and the importance of emotion to our thinking and behaving. People in different cultures categorize emotions differently. Some languages have classification for emotions that are not classified in other languages. It is a belief that nonverbal expressions of emotion differ across cultures, due to the fact that different cultures have different display rules.

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