1 Hillary Anger Elfenbein, 2/3/2014 5:35:25 AM Cross-cultural Perception of Emotional Expressions and the Social Relations Model Hillary Anger Elfenbein University of California, Berkeley Special thanks to Jennifer Boldry

2 Hillary Anger Elfenbein, 2/3/2014 5:35:25 AM Overview Emotional intelligence and emotion recognition Communicating via emotion is inherently relational – Need to look beyond individual differences – Accuracy due as much to emotional fit as individual emotional skill Empirical research on cross-cultural perception – Meta-analysis – Block round-robin design using SRM Future directions

3 Hillary Anger Elfenbein, 2/3/2014 5:35:25 AM The accurate appraisal and expression of emotions in oneself and others and the regulation of emotion in a way that enhances living Mayer, DiPaolo & Salovey (1990) Difficulty validating claims – Low reliability and low validity (Ciarrochi, et al., 2000; Davies, et al.,1998; Roberts, et al., 2001) – Strongly correlated with personality One exception: emotion recognition – Accuracy in understanding others emotions Emotion provides usable information – Not paper-and-pencil Science of Emotional Intelligence

4 Hillary Anger Elfenbein, 2/3/2014 5:35:25 AM Communicating via Emotion Expression and recognition skills both part of EI but essentially independent (Rosenthal et al., 1979; Zajonc, 1998) However, recognizing emotion is just one side of the story... Communication involves a message sent and received Expressor Perceiver EXPRESSION RECOGNITION

5 Hillary Anger Elfenbein, 2/3/2014 5:35:25 AM Who is Observing Whom Matters Emotional accuracy is not merely an intelligence – Expressive styles can vary – Easier to understand familiar styles – Idiosyncratic match with interaction partner is also important Hypothesis: Significant variance in accuracy is explained by the statistical interaction between the expressor and perceiver, controlling for main effects (in SRM terms, there are relationship effects)

6 Hillary Anger Elfenbein, 2/3/2014 5:35:25 AM Emotion is Largely Universal Emotion evolved across species as a mechanism to signal internal states Is this monkey having a good day?

7 Hillary Anger Elfenbein, 2/3/2014 5:35:25 AM Universality, Continued Source: The Straits Times, Singapore, 9/4/2002 Apparently not a very good day – Context can serve as evidence

8 Hillary Anger Elfenbein, 2/3/2014 5:35:25 AM A Dialect Theory of Emotion Universal Affect Program Culture A Specific Affect Program Culture B Specific Affect Program Emotional expression is a universal language However, subtle dialects can across cultures – Differ more with greater physical or cultural distance – With exposure, we can learn new dialects It matters who is judging whom Sources: Elfenbein & Ambady (2003). Current Directions in Psych. Science. Elfenbein, Beaupre, Levesque, & Hess (2007). Emotion.

9 Hillary Anger Elfenbein, 2/3/2014 5:35:25 AM Cultural In-group Advantage Greater accuracy for in-group vs. out-group Meta-analysis of 87 studies with 184 comparisons – Over 21,000 total participants In-group advantage M=9.3% (r =.55, p< ) – About one-quarter of the range (~50%-90%) – Effect robust across many methods Effect decreased with greater cultural exposure – Greater physical proximity or telephone traffic – Living together within same nation, although minority groups better at overcoming advantage Source: Elfenbein & Ambady (2002). Psychological Bulletin.

10 Hillary Anger Elfenbein, 2/3/2014 5:35:25 AM Block Round-Robin Design I = in-group judgments; O = out-group judgments; - = deleted self-judgments Source: Boldry & Kashy (1999). JPSP.

11 Hillary Anger Elfenbein, 2/3/2014 5:35:25 AM Chinese and Malays in Singapore Major social groups in Singapore – Chinese (77%), Malay (14%) – Remainder Indian and other groups Extensive cross-group contact is mandated – 80% live in integrated government housing However, assimilation is discouraged by policies to preserve each groups cultural heritage Comparable along other demographics – SES, education, urban vs. rural, etc.

12 Hillary Anger Elfenbein, 2/3/2014 5:35:25 AM Methods and Analysis Express emotions then judge all others expressions – 2 judgments x 7 states (angry, fearful, disgusted, happy, neutral, sad, surprised) – 24-person design generated 7,728 data points Partition accuracy into components using the Social Relations Model (Kenny & LaVoie, 1985) – Individual differences in expression & recognition – Relationship/dyad effects: Some dyads are systematically more or less accurate than individual- level skills would predict Source: Elfenbein, Foo, Boldry, & Tan (2006). Cognition & Emotion.

13 Hillary Anger Elfenbein, 2/3/2014 5:35:25 AM It Matters Who is Observing Whom Individual differences matter in predicting accuracy… …but the idiosyncratic combination of expressor and perceiver matters as much as recognition skill – Emotional intelligence lives partly in the dyad – Potential power of theoretically untapped domain Source: Elfenbein, Foo, Boldry, & Tan (2006). Cognition & Emotion.

14 Hillary Anger Elfenbein, 2/3/2014 5:35:25 AM Examining Each Quadrant Separately Dyadic effects within-cultures, not just in-group advantage – Suggestive small positive trend of reciprocity Intriguing trend of cross-group vs. within-group variance – High status groups see own group as more diverse, but low status groups do not (Boldry & Kashy, 1999) – Or greater expressiveness variation among Chinese Source: Elfenbein, Foo, Boldry, & Tan (2006). Cognition & Emotion.

15 Hillary Anger Elfenbein, 2/3/2014 5:35:25 AM Test differences in variance in block-round robin – Sufficient numbers needed to run 2x2 ANOVA on each variance component ~8 complete rounds – Underway in India using distinct regional groups – FACS coding to distinguish explanations of perception vs. stimuli differences Test mechanism of expressive fit within cultures – Indirect evidence: positive reciprocity – Direct evidence: new data set to be FACS coded Future Directions