Are the windows to the soul the same in the East and West? Cultural differences in using the eyes and mouth as cues to recognize emotions in Japan and the United States

Abstract

The current research investigated the hypothesis that, depending on an individual’s cultural background, facial cues in different parts of the face are weighted differently when interpreting emotions. Given that the eyes are more difficult to control than the mouth when people express emotions, we predicted that individuals in cultures where emotional subduction is the norm (such as Japan) would focus more strongly on the eyes than the mouth when interpreting others’ emotions. By contrast, we predicted that people in cultures where overt emotional expression is the norm (such as the US) would tend to interpret emotions based on the position of the mouth, because it is the most expressive part of the face. This hypothesis was confirmed in two studies, one using illustrated faces, and one using edited facial expressions from real people, in which emotional expressions in the eyes and mouth were independently manipulated. Implications for our understanding of cross-cultural psychology, as well of the psychology of emotional interpretation, are discussed

Internal representations reveal cultural diversity in expectations of facial expressions of emotion.

“…Together, eye-movement data and techniques that isolate the in- Finally, culture-specific expectations of facial expression signals likely contribute to consistent cultural differences in the recognition of universal facial expressions (e.g., Biehl et al, 1997;Ekman et al, 1987;Ekman et al, 1969;Jack et al, 2009;Matsumoto, 1992;Matsumoto & Ekman, 1989;Moriguchi et al, 2005), as information conflicting with internal representations would generate confusion. Moreover, culture-specific fixation patterns used during facial expression recognition (Jack et al, 2009; see also Yuki, Maddux, & Masuda, 2007) would further hinder the process by subsampling culturally incongruent facial expression signals.…”

Sex differences in the effects of visual contact and eye contact in negotiations

“…Also, one's ability to utilize visual contact may be affected by external stimuli like cultural norms (Andersen, 2008). For example, Japanese focus more strongly on the eyes than on the mouth when interpreting others' emotions while the opposite is true for Americans (Yuki, Maddux, & Masuda, 2007). Recent studies suggest that these cultural norms can be transferred to others, including primates.…”

Inferring Emotion from Facial Expressions in Social Contexts : A Role of Self-Construal?

“…Yuki, Maddux, and Masuda (2007) present evidence that Westerners and Easterners attend to different aspects of the face when judging emotion, with Japanese attending more to the eyes, while Americans attend more to the mouth. Along the same lines, Masuda et al (2008) present evidence that Japanese participants seem to take surrounding social context into account when judging the emotion of an individual more than Americans do, i.e.…”