A review of who I depend on how I feel - Essay Example

? A REVIEW OF WHO I AM DEPENDS ON HOW I FEEL (Ashton-James et al. 2009) Inserts His/Her Inserts Inserts Tutor’s Name Date: Introduction The innovative research article by Aston-James et al (2009) sought to understand the role of influences in the expression of culture. The research sought to answer whether emotional states have an influence on how individuals express their core self as understood by their culture. The purpose of the study was to understand how people react under different emotions as defined by their culture. The main concepts in the study were the affective states and cultural expression. The research drew from past studies that looked in the role of affect in behavior and cognition. Another background study on the subject was research on the role of emotions on psychology and social behavior by Kim and Sherman (2007). The study’s main hypothesis was that diffuse emotional feelings whether negative or positive have the ability to influence behaviors, thoughts and feelings that are typically connected to the fabric of an individual’s cultural heritage. Methods The study was composed of four experiments. The first experiment had 146 participants from the University of British Columbia, 74 being of East Asian and Asian Canadian background while 72 being of European and European Canadian background. The second experiment had 63 subjects from the same university, 33 being of Asian and Asian-Canadian descent and 30 being from European and European Canadian descent. The third experiment had 91 participants (47 male, 44 female) with 60 of the participants being from a Western descent while 31 being from Asian descent. The final experiment had 35 participants from Duke University (22 male, 13 female) with 17 being European Americans and 18 from an Asian descent. The experiment utilized various types of questionnaires, gift pencil and enticement money. Procedures In the first experiment the participants first had to engage in real-life memory activity in order to incite positive, negative or neutral feelings. For positive feelings, participants had to remember a time that was joyous, while for negative affect, participants had to remember a sad time in their lives. For neutral affect, participants were told to recount actions carried out earlier the same day. During the three steps, participants had to describe what they most remembered about the event, five feelings that they felt and had to rate these feelings on a ten point scale with 10 being intense and 1 being not intense. The subjects then had to finish a Value of Expression Questionnaire developed to gauge the magnitude with which one holds dear self-expression. In the second experiment, the 63 subjects were given headphones to listen to classical music lasting approximately three minutes so as to induce either positive affect or negative affect. After they finished listening to the music so selected, they were required to write down what they felt using two seven point ratings of happy and sad. The subjects then had to write down their ethnicity, nationality, race and gender after which a pen was offered as payment. The researchers presented the pens in a set of 5 with one or two pens being a different color from the rest. The dependent measure used was whether the subjects picked the pen that was different in color. In the third experiment, 91 participants were paid $7 to participate. The experiment used a 2 x 2 design being (smiling vs. frowning) x (Western vs. East Asian). In the research, subjects were randomly allocated to a facial feedback and were requested to hold a pen between their teeth as they filled out the Twenty Statement Test (TST). The TST required the subjects to answer who they are twenty times. Two raters were chosen without being given the background of the study and had to program the answers as denoting an independent self-representation if it describes a personal characteristic, and as denoting an interdependent self-representation if it describes a relationship or social role. In the final experiment, 35 participants chosen from Duke University were paid $3 in order to participate. Two examiners were chosen, one being a Westerner while the other was of East Asian descent. The East Asian examiner chose the western subjects, while the Western examiner chose the East Asian subjects. A confederate, a neutral observer always of similar background as the subjects, sat on a bench pretending to be a subject on a break. The subjects were told that the study was a media survey. The subjects had to view 10 negative or positive images acting as affect manipulators. The participants then had to complete a survey in which they had to choose the level of positive or negative feelings from the images using 2 unipolar nine point scales. Results In all the experiments, analysis of variance was the main statistical analysis chosen. Manipulation checks were also used in all the experiments using the rating scales from the questionnaires. In the first experiment, subjects who had positive memories had the best positive affect, followed by those with neutral memories and finally those with negative memories. In self-expression, the test found out that there culture had a substantial impact on the response. It found out that Westerners scored lower on the VEQ positive affect state than in the negative affect state while the East Asians score were higher. In the second experiment, subjects designated the positive affect status had better feelings than those whose affect was negative. In the pen choice test, the likelihood of Westerners to choose odd pens when they had positive feelings was less than when they had negative feelings, while Asian subjects with positive feelings were more likely to choose the odd pens than those feeling negatively. The third experiment revealed that Western subjects who had positive feelings recorded less independent self-understanding answers than those who had negative feelings. East Asian subjects with positive feelings had more independent self-understanding answers than those with negative feelings. The final experiment revealed that subjects who saw positive images responded that they felt more positive than those who viewed negative images. On seating arrangement, it was noted that Westerners always sat closer to the confederate when they had a positive affective status than when in a negative state while Asian subjects responded in an opposite manner. Conclusion The hypothesis so presented for this study was proven by the respective experiments. The main hypothesis was supported by all the tests as each test showed that there existed a relationship between affect and expression and this relationship deferred among the separate cultures chosen. The study sought to find out the role of feelings on cultural expression. The findings found out have all sought to answer this question and are consistent with the purpose of the study. As to the concepts of the study, the findings note that affective states either positive or negative have a notable impact on behaviors and values relating to a given culture. The findings also noted that cultural expressions differed, and that people from different cultures respond differently to emotions and feelings. The study is consistent with past studies noting that emotions have a relationship with psychology. The study is also consistent with Kim and Sherman (2007) who found out that there is a substantial relationship between culture and affect. The main strength of this study is that it advanced the same subject from four different directions. The study used different experiments to prove the same thing thus eliminating bias. The study also used accepted statistical procedures as well as a respectable sample size. The main limitation of this study is on the unreliable nature of human emotions as well as the unpredictable way people react to different situations. Culture is also quite variable and Asian Canadians may in fact act more like European Canadian to culture evolution. For future studies, it is very important for these tests to be taken in their respective environments such as using participants from Europe in their home country and Asian participant chosen from Asia. This may need the researchers to travel to Britain for test European subjects, then travel to China to test Asian subjects. The tests also need to bring out emotion better. Sad pictures, music and memories may not cause negative feelings at that time thus a better emotion manipulator should be used, such as sad movies. References Aston-James, C., Maddux, W., Galinsky, A. & Chartrand, T. (2009). Who I Am Depends on How I Feel. Association of Psychological Science, 20(3), 340 – 348. Kim, H. S., & Sherman, D. K. (2007). Express yourself: Culture and the effect of self-expression on choice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92, 1–11. Read More