Page 100 - Advanced Biblical Counseling Student Textbook

Culture and Emotional Expression
Do facial expressions also have different meanings in different cultures? Researchers showed
photographs of various facial expressions to people in different parts of the world and asked them to
guess the emotion. Regardless of cultural background, a smile’s a smile the world around. So is anger,
and to a lesser extent the other basic expressions (There is no culture where people frown when they
are happy). 159

Children’s facial expressions – even those of blind children who have never seen a face – are also
universal. People blind from birth spontaneously exhibit the common facial expressions associated with
such emotions as joy, sadness, fear, and anger. The world over, children cry when distressed, shake
their heads when defiant, and smile when they are happy. 160

Reflection: We would have discussed these questions in class. Take some time to think through them
and write your responses. Or talk with someone in your home to find out their opinions.

1. Do our facial expressions influence our feelings?

2. How do we communicate nonverbally?

3. Are nonverbal expressions of emotion universally understood?

4. Who tends to express more emotion – men or women? How do we know the answer to that
question?

Experienced Emotion
How many distinct emotions are there? Carroll Izard isolated 10 basic emotions (joy, interest-
excitement, surprise, sadness, anger, disgust, contempt, fear, shame, and guilt), most of which are
present in infancy. Jessica Tracey and Richard Robins believe that pride is also a distinct emotion,
signaled by a small smile, head slightly tilted back, and an open posture. And Phillip Shaver and his
colleagues believe that love, too, may be a basic emotion. But Carol Izard has argued that other
emotions are combinations of these 10, with love, for example, being a mixture of joy and interest-
excitement. The ingredients of emotion include not only physiology and expressive behavior but also
our conscious experience. 161 (source: www.researchgate.net

Look at the photos on the next page and notice the similarities in facial expressions between the adult
and the infants. Carroll Izard believed distinct emotions appear within the first months of life and
continue throughout the life span. Think about babies you know. Would you agree?

159 Myers, 2009
160 Ibid.
161 Myers, 2009.

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