A Perspective of Japanese and American Folk Vocabularies on Emotions
Abstract
This brief manuscript is an analytical and comparative study of Japanese and American folk vocabularies for emotions. The comparative analysis is based on the data from research studies that have solidified the evidence-based conclusions by subject-matter experts. Therefore, the narrative here rests firmly on the literature that serves as the foundation for this discussion.
Key words: emotional intelligence, cross-cultural psychology, emotion, linguistics, Japanese folk vocabulary for emotion, American folk vocabulary for emotion
A Perspective of Japanese and American Folk Vocabularies on Emotions
Understanding that the term, psychology, can be described as the scientific study of the mind and mental health, having emotional intelligence is a key component for this kind of science. The human condition requires having to burden negative emotions while allowing for positive ones as well. Culturally, the perception is that some cultures are more inhibiting of the expression of emotions than others, and therefore, can affect the variation of vocabulary within a culture’s language as it pertains to emotions. From an international perspective, experts found in the field of Psychology, have given much thought to the cultural differences between nations found in the western hemisphere and eastern hemisphere. This paper is a brief overview of the comparative analysis of both Japanese and American folk vocabularies on emotions and the evidence-based research concluding how culture has the ability to influence the expression of emotions as opposed to the emotions themselves.
Emotion is a term that is used when describing one’s feelings about an occurrence and the response it garners. This discussion weighs in on the linguistic approach in the expression of emotions. To the layperson, one may assume that some cultures are more emotionally suppressed than others, and therefore, one culture may have a more limited emotional vocabulary than another culture. Using emotional intelligence as a platform, researching how culture can influence emotional expression, linguistically speaking, is the focus of this study. More specifically, researching both American and Japanese folk vocabularies will be a reflection of each culture’s level of cultural suppression or cultural liberality. Moreover, it is speculative that studying cross-cultural differences of the emotions themselves is more universal than different. In other words, the human condition is affected by all of the same emotions, inconsiderate to culture. This notion is similar to way all humans bleed if they are cut; human anatomy is largely consistent, save the instances of deformity; the uniqueness of each human has the ability to share the DNA of another human. The cross-cultural psychology of emotional intelligence, in some domains, transcends differences in culture.
The research analysis comparing the emotion vocabularies of Japanese and American cultures is composed of an investigation of how emotions are labeled and conceptualized by individuals. The sampling of the study was made up of individuals who varied in age and educational backgrounds while they all resided in rural areas of Japan and the United States. After collecting the results of the two, different groups, the study focused their attention to the results based on similarities than differences. They found that the participants of both groups, all who live on farms or in farming areas, have larger vocabularies than the typical sampling that is normally used in these types of psychological studies. They were able to pinpoint the relativity of the terms used in conjunction with physical sensations or evaluative reactions. The similarities of the American emotion vocabularies and the Japanese emotion vocabularies closes the gap cross-cultural differences, supporting the ideological theory that the human condition rises above the distinctions between different groups of mankind.
In conclusion, this paper is a brief outline of the comparative analysis of both Japanese and American folk vocabularies on emotions and the evidence-based research concluding how culture has the ability to influence the expression of emotions as opposed to the emotions themselves. The research analysis proved that cross-cultural psychology is more similar than different when it comes to emotions and emotional vocabulary based on the evidence found in sampling individuals from rural areas in both the United States and Japan. The personal opinion of this topic supports the theoretical ideologies that cultures are more similar than they are different. Yet, the possible influence that culture has on emotions is more telling of emotional expression than the emotions themselves.
This topic of study and the linguistic analysis of emotional expression needs further study as it pertains to the cross-cultural differences in emotional vocabulary from a psychological viewpoint. It would be interesting for further study to take place, comparing other cultures and their emotional intelligence as it relates to emotional expression and emotional vocabulary. For instance, it would be interesting to compare the emotional vocabularies of British culture with that of Pakastani culture. The comparative study of this phenomenon would also be worthy of speculation if Canadian culture was compared to Ethiopian culture. The nuances of such studies would be most valuable if the expression of emotion was compared to emotional vocabulary.
Bibliography
Bo Shao, L. D. (2014, November 6). Universality Versus Cultural Specificty of Three Emotion Domains: Some Evidence Based on the Cascading Model of Emotional Intelligence. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 1-23. doi:10.1177/0022022114557479
Futoshi Kobayashi, D. L. (2010, April 3). Japanese and American Folk Vocabularies for Emotions. The Journal of Social Psychology, 451-478. doi:10.1080/00224540309598456
