What We All Need To Know About Human Emotions & How They Affect Our Behaviour with Batja Mesquita #344
Dr. Rangan Chatterjee speaks with social psychologist Batja Mesquita, author of "Between Us: How Cultures Create Emotions," about how emotions are culturally created, not innate. They discuss how understanding cultural differences in emotional expression and interpretation can foster greater empathy, connection, and harmony in a fractured world.
Deep Dive Analysis
15 Topic Outline
Introduction to Cultural Psychology of Emotions
Personal Experiences with Cultural Misunderstandings
Dutch Cultural Norms and Direct Communication
Emotions as Social Interactions, Not Innate
Language and Cultural Framing of Emotions
Gender, Power, and Emotional Expression
Cultural Influence on Emotional Choice and Authenticity
The Immigrant Experience and Dual Cultural Identities
Biculturalism: European vs. American Perspectives
Cultural Nuances in Doctor-Patient Communication
Addressing Trauma in Honor Cultures
Parenting Styles: Praise, Criticism, and Motivation
Resonating vs. Empathizing Across Cultures
Costs and Benefits of Western Individualism
Fostering Harmony in a Divided World
6 Key Concepts
Emotions as Social Interactions
Emotions are not fixed, innate entities residing within individuals but rather arise 'between us' as dynamic interactions and responses to social situations, shaped by cultural scripts and expectations.
Cultural Blindfoldedness
This phenomenon describes how one's own deeply ingrained cultural understanding of emotions acts as an unconscious filter, making it difficult to perceive or understand emotional expressions and norms from other cultures, even when actively studying them.
Emotions as Claims of Position
Emotions often serve as claims about an individual's status, entitlements, or expectations within a social situation, with their impact and acceptance varying based on the claimant's social standing, gender, and cultural context.
Authenticity of Emotion
This refers to the Western cultural belief that emotions are genuine, internal forces that need expression, leading to psychological strain if suppressed. This contrasts with cultures where emotions are seen as adjustable to situational requirements without negative health impacts.
Cultural Humility (Not Knowing)
An approach to intercultural understanding that involves acknowledging one's own cultural biases and limitations, and actively seeking to understand another person's narrative, values, and meaning-making from their perspective, rather than projecting one's own feelings or assumptions.
Entitative vs. Incremental Mindset
A distinction in how individuals perceive their abilities and failures: an entitative mindset views them as fixed reflections of inherent talent, leading to demotivation from criticism, while an incremental mindset sees them as opportunities for improvement and growth.
9 Questions Answered
No, emotions are not universal or innate; they arise between people through social interactions and are significantly shaped by culture, differing dramatically across societies.
Cultural differences can lead to unintended misunderstandings, even with good intentions, because people may emphasize different aspects of an interaction, such as expressing gratitude versus fostering intimacy.
In Western cultures, emotions are often viewed as authentic internal forces that need expression, making suppression feel like betraying one's nature and potentially leading to burnout or increased emotional intensity.
In Western cultures, anger can be seen as empowering, allowing individuals to claim entitlement, whereas in many other cultures, anger is less common, except for powerful individuals defending social norms, and individual entitlement is not a primary concept.
Children learn to label their emotions from adults and caregivers who interpret their outward behaviors and the surrounding situation, as caregivers do not have direct access to the child's internal feelings.
Psychologically, it is unrealistic to forget a part of one's life experiences that come from a heritage culture, and pressure to abandon it can lead to less identification with the national culture.
Recognizing that cultures steer how symptoms are articulated (e.g., somatization of depression) and that one-on-one conversations may be unnatural for some, allows healthcare professionals to ask more culturally appropriate questions and focus on a patient's position in the world rather than just internal feelings.
Traditional empathy often involves projecting one's own feelings onto another's situation, which can be inaccurate across cultures; 'resonating' means understanding what is at stake for the other person, their narrative, values, and environment, without necessarily feeling the same emotion.
While Western individualism offers liberty to individuals who are doing well, it also makes people more vulnerable if they don't succeed individually, as the social network or 'scaffolding' to support them in times of difficulty (like depression) may be less robust.
14 Actionable Insights
1. Cultivate Hope & Resonance
To foster harmony in a divided world, articulate your own needs without immediately viewing other groups as interfering, and strive to understand what is at stake for people with differing values. Cultivate hope as a moral obligation by actively working to resonate with others and understand their perspectives, seeking common ground and compatible needs.
2. Practice Cultural Humility in Healthcare
Healthcare professionals should recognize that patients from different cultures may express distress through physical symptoms or lack direct linguistic equivalents for Western diagnostic terms. Adapt communication by focusing on the patient’s narrative, their position in the world, and what they wish they could do, rather than imposing Western mental health language.
3. Understand Emotions as Interactions
Recognize that emotions are not universal, innate ’things’ inside us, but rather arise from and are shaped by interactions between people and an individual’s engagement with their environment. This perspective allows for different cultural interpretations and responses to situations.
4. Choose Your Emotional Response
Cultivate the skill of choosing your response and emotions by taking other perspectives or focusing on different aspects of a situation, rather than letting external events automatically dictate your feelings. This personal choice can be constrained by cultural and social forces, but it’s a powerful tool for well-being.
5. Seek Others’ Cultural Understanding
Instead of trying to feel what another person feels (which can be misleading due to cultural differences), practice ‘resonating’ by humbly seeking to understand what is at stake for them, their narrative, values, environment, and how they make meaning of their experiences. This approach fosters deeper understanding without projecting one’s own cultural biases.
6. Recognize Cultural Emotion Norms
Be aware that emotional expressions and their interpretations are culturally specific; what one culture perceives as genuine connection another might perceive as formal distance, and vice-versa. Actively seek to understand what is important for other people in interactions and communicate about it, rather than assuming your cultural interpretation is universal.
7. Navigate Individualism’s Costs
Understand the trade-offs of Western individualism: while it offers liberty when doing well, it increases vulnerability and reduces social scaffolding during difficult times like depression, making second-time depression more common. This awareness can help in seeking or building stronger community support.
8. Rethink Emotion Suppression
If you believe emotions are authentic internal forces that must be expressed, suppressing them can lead to increased intensity and burnout. Instead, consider adopting a mindset where emotions are adjusted to situational requirements, which can help change the emotion itself and reduce negative impacts.
9. Empower Collective Emotion Claims
If individual emotional expressions (like anger) are not effective due to social dynamics (e.g., for women or minorities), consider collective action or political claims to restructure social expectations and achieve desired outcomes. This approach leverages group power to challenge existing norms.
10. Parent with Cultural Awareness
Parents should understand their role in co-creating and co-constructing emotions with their children by helping them interpret the world from a cultural perspective. This socialization, while culturally specific, is beneficial for children to function within their society.
11. Support Dual Cultural Identity
Recognize that individuals exposed to multiple cultures can develop hybrid identities, and forcing abandonment of heritage culture can lead to less identification with the national culture. Support the ability to engage in multiple cultures for better integration and personal well-being.
12. Interpret Criticism Culturally
Understand that the purpose and impact of criticism and praise vary across cultures; in some, pointing out deficiencies is a form of motivation for improvement, while in others, it can be demotivating if perceived as a judgment of inherent worth. Consider the cultural context when giving or receiving feedback.
13. Language Organizes Emotion, Not Reflects
Be aware that language organizes our understanding of emotions by creating categories, but it doesn’t necessarily reflect a universal, pre-existing reality of emotions. Avoid the confusion of assuming one word for an emotion means it’s one universal experience.
14. Reflect on Your Own Culture
Recognize that your own way of living and experiencing emotions is just one valid path among many, each with its own costs and benefits. Understanding the emotional lives of others can illuminate the cultural underpinnings of your own experiences and foster self-awareness.
5 Key Quotes
Emotions don't live within us, they actually arise between us. They are made, not innate.
Batja Mesquita
What we call emotions are often claims about your position in the situation.
Batja Mesquita
If you are depressed in individualist cultures, the scaffolding is gone.
Batja Mesquita
I don't know how you feel, but I'm still here for you.
Dr. Rangan Chatterjee
Hope is a moral obligation. We, we try, I think you need to try to have hope and work on what people can do.
Batja Mesquita