Karl G. Heider

Universals and cultural differences in the judgments of facial expressions of emotion.

We present here new evidence of cross-cultural agreement in the judgement of facial expression. Subjects in 10 cultures performed a more complex judgment task than has been used in previous cross-cultural studies. Instead of limiting the subjects to selecting only one emotion term for each expression, this task allowed them to indicate that multiple emotions were evident and the intensity of each emotion. Agreement was very high across cultures about which emotion was the most intense. The 10 cultures also agreed about the second most intense emotion signaled by an expression and about the relative intensity among expressions of the same emotion. However, cultural differences were found in judgments of the absolute level of emotional intensity.

MATSUMOTO AND EKMAN'S JAPANESE AND CAUCASIAN FACIAL EXPRESSIONS OF EMOTION (JACFEE): RELIABILITY DATA AND CROSS-NATIONAL DIFFERENCES

Substantial research has documented the universality of several emotional expressions. However, recent findings have demonstrated cultural differences in level of recognition and ratings of intensity. When testing cultural differences, stimulus sets must meet certain requirements. Matsumoto and Ekmans Japanese and Caucasian Facial Expressions of Emotion (JACFEE) is the only set that meets these requirements. The purpose of this study was to obtain judgment reliability data on the JACFEE, and to test for possible cross-national differences in judgments as well. Subjects from Hungary, Japan, Poland, Sumatra, United States, and Vietnam viewed the complete JACFEE photo set and judged which emotions were portrayed in the photos and rated the intensity of those expressions. Results revealed high agreement across countries in identifying the emotions portrayed in the photos, demonstrating the reliability of the JACFEE. Despite high agreement, cross-national differences were found in the exact level of agreement for photos of anger, contempt, disgust, fear, sadness, and surprise. Cross-national differences were also found in the level of intensity attributed to the photos. No systematic variation due to either preceding emotion or presentation order of the JACFEE was found. Also, we found that grouping the countries into a Western/Non-Western dichotomy was not justified according to the data. Instead, the cross-national differences are discussed in terms of possible sociopsychological variables that influence emotion judgments.

The universality of a contempt expression: A replication

Two experiments replicated Ekman and Friesens finding of an expression that signals contempt across cultures. The subjects, from West Sumatra, Indonesia, were members of a culture that differs in a number of ways from Western cultures. In one experiment the subjects judged photographs of Japanese and American faces, both males and females, which showed many different emotions. There was very high agreement about which expressions signaled contempt in preference to anger, disgust, happiness, sadness, fear, or surprise. In a second experiment the Indonesian subjects judged expressions shown by members of their own culture, and again there was very high agreement about which expression signals contempt.

A Research Film Program in the Study of Changing Man [and Comments and Replies]

In dealing with human culture, researchers must often work with phenomena to which they cannot return because the passage of time irrevocably changes their makeup and because ethical and human considerations make it impossible to manipulate their subject in the laboratory under experimental conditions. Many believe that the loss of such information about the development and responses of man in many now disappearing diverse environmental and cultural milieus could be of critical importance to our knowledge about, and even to the survival of, our species. The problems posed by these limitations on the study of man can be mitigated by a research cinema film concept and method wich allows repeated review of selected aspects of human behavior and culture for careful scientific study. The research cinema film is a potent tool for immediate, intensive work on the documentation and study of changing man, including those cultural groups hitherto so isolated that they have retained diverse patterns as yet uninfluenced significantly by the major technological, ideological, and religious currents affecting most of the world. Film records will not only preserve much information for study which would otherwise be lost, but will also provide a window on the original phenomena through which other anthropologists and scientists can have a look for themselves, if they want to question inferences drawn by earlier workers. Research films are neither a summation of information, a demonstration of a conclusion, nor the imposition of an already structured idea or system of knowledge, but rather a source of material for viewers with research interests in events of the past. In contrast to the production of usual motion pictures, the work of preparing research films is principally that of extensive identification of subject-matter in its original time sequence and correlation of the filmed data with other associated material. All episodes are identified in time, place, and subject, and the filmers objectives and predilections are indicated. Such research films can be returned to again and again as the source of data for diverse further research stimulated by advances in the methods and findings of the human sciences.