Amanda Frommelt

Human Identity in Community

The Societal and Cultural Construction of Emotions

What defines an emotion? And how do we define emotions? At times it's not always clear

whether or not emotions are a universal construct or a social one. Some researchers argue that

emotion is a universal construct while others argue it's purely social. With two very different

ideas it can, at times, be troublesome to determine which side of the argument you're on.

However, we can see that emotions and emotional arousal responses vary by culture. People

engage themselves in community with others and within those different community's

commonalities develop and the Social Learning Theory1 takes hold. How we act in public and

how we perform basic life tasks, have all, in some way, been manipulated by the social learning

theory. Whether or not emotions are a universal biological construct or a social one, is a

reoccurring issue in the study of emotions among many psychologists and philosophers. We can

understand that emotions are in some sense, biological. In fact, the Stoics believe that since we

are intellectual beings who are products of intelligence, we can possess control over ourselves as

well as society’s influence on our emotions. However, due to the fact that emotions are the

byproduct of the social learning theory, that would assume that emotions are in fact, socially and

culturally constructed with little consciousness involved. What we attribute to certain emotions

1
Social Learning Theory, Albert Bandura (1977) is a theory of learning and social behavior that is learned by
observing others and imitating them.
and how we experience them vary by culture and societies. Emotions are experienced differently

in different societies for a multitude of reasons. The features that are implemented when arguing

for intersocietal differences in emotional life are very basic teachings within societies, yet, have a

drastic effect on how we experience and respond to life events. Analytically, we can understand

that emotions elicit a biological response, however, emotions are best understood as a matter of

investigation under the societal and cultural influence.

In order to argue that emotions are a social construct, we must first be able to define

what exactly that means. For a majority of psychologists working in emotion studies, they

classify their work with an approach called, “social constructionism.” Social constructionism is a

general term sometimes applied to theories that emphasize the socially created nature of social

life.2 The theory centers around the idea that emotions are adapted within the systemization of

others, rather than within the individual alone. A crucial focus of social constructionism is to

discover the ways in which groups and individuals participate within coordination of one

another. In order to gain a broader understanding of social constructionism, take, for example,

money, or the concept of currency. Money is a social construct, people within certain societies

have deemed and agreed that money has some sort of importance and value. This results in

individuals within societies obtaining jobs in order to receive the form of currency considered to

be of value. Another way to look at social constructionism is through the self and self-identity.

Based on his Looking-glass self- theory3, Charles Cooley stated, "I am not who you think I am; I

am not who I think I am; I am who I think you think I am." This theory perfectly demonstrates

how people within societies construct ideas and concepts that may not even exist without the

2
"social constructionism." Oxford Reference. 10 Dec. 2018.
3
Looking-glass self-theory states that a person's self grows out of a person´s social interactions with others. The
view of ourselves comes from the contemplation of personal qualities and impressions of how others perceive us.
existence of the people who are able to validate it or deem it to be true. Similarly, emotions are

cultural and societal objects, they have meaning within a system of relations. They unfold in a

world already symbolized and are constructed as what they are by the concept we have of them.4

Now that we have gained a basic understanding of what social constructionism means,

we can see just how this is played out when discussing emotions. We all experience emotions

differently. The variation in how we experience emotions, or in other words, act them out,

largely varies by culture. Martha Nussbaum, perfectly demonstrates just how drastic this

variation is when an individual is experiencing certain emotions. An Ifaluk boy who contracted

meningitis and became comatose within a mere twenty- four hours was surrounded by family

and friends at a gathering at his parents’ home. The moment the boy died, “A great wailing went

up.” The young boys’ family members were distraught with grief, pounding their fists on the

floor and on their chest. Oppositely, Nussbaum identifies a young Balinese girl who needed

several days off work because her fiancé died and she was to attend his funeral. Interestingly

though, this young girl was smiling and laughing, and upon her return was even more cheerful

than before.5 These stories are crucial in understanding the social construction of emotions

because each of these people experienced grief in a different way based upon their culture and

society. The family of the Ifaluk boy made such a grand display of grief because it is believed

within their culture that those who do not display an overwhelming amount of grief at a death

will, in fact, become sick themselves. Within the young Balinese girls' culture, it is believed that

if she does indulge in such displays of grief and sad thoughts, then she will become ill, so she

4
E.Doyle McCarthy, “The Social Construction of Emotions: New Directions From Culture Theory” Social
Perspectives of Emotion, no.2 (1994): 267-279
5
Nussbaum, Martha C. Upheavals of Thought the Intelligence of Emotions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
(2009): 139-142
distracts herself with positive thoughts. The difference in how these two families expressed the

same emotion, portrays just how much culture can constrain and influence our emotions.

“Culture shapes the ways that people should feel in certain situations and the ways people

should express their emotions.”6 The way in which we experience emotions can be related to the

mind and self. “Mind and self exist only in relation to other minds and selves within a social

process.”7 How we think, feel and know cannot be lodged into our consciousness, rather it is an

unconscious agent that is assumed upon us when we are immersed in a certain society. The mind

is a structure in relation to the world, and the self is the object that acts out what the mind

intends. Simply put, our emotions and how we express those feelings are properties of our

unconscious mind that is shaped by societal influence. Based on the stories above, it is evident

that the behaviors which are associated with different emotions differ tremendously. The cultural

differences in emotional arousal have consistently been found and reported. Looking at a

broader, and not so specific scale, we can still see cultural differences concerning emotional

arousal. When discussing emotional arousal, it’s important to note that Western and Eastern

culture vary significantly. Western culture is related to high arousal emotions, such as anger,

nervousness, frustration, and fear. Oppositely, Eastern culture is more closely related to low

arousal emotions, which would include things like, boredom, calmness, sleepiness, and

gloominess.8 The differences of how these two cultures experience emotions are explained by

societal influence. For example, people in Western cultures, such as America, are always trying

to influence others, resulting in high arousal emotions being preferred. By contrast, however, in

6
Nangyeon, Lim “Cultural Differences in Emotion: Differences in emotional arousal level between the East and the
West” Integrative Medicine Research no.5 (2016): 105-109
7
E. Doyle McCarthy “Emotions are Social Things” (1989): 56-57
8
Nangyeon, Lim “Cultural Differences in Emotion: Differences in emotional arousal level between the East and the
West” Integrative Medicine Research no.5 (2016): 105-109
Eastern culture, adjusting and conforming to other people is considered desirable.9 In order to

meet this objective, low arousal emotions tend to be more favored than high arousal emotions.

While we can readily accept that different cultures and societies experience, or act out

emotions differently, it’s also apparent that there is a cross-cultural language divide. This

language divide allows us as human beings to effectively communicate our emotions with one

another. As human beings, we tend to divide the world into different categories. For example,

those who speak English divide colors into different categories, (red, blue, green) as well as the

time of day, (morning, afternoon, night). The division of a specific sort is how we distinguish

one material from another. Similarly, concerning emotions there is a language divide, or more

specifically, a categorization divide. The categories that people of different languages divide

emotional states into varies by culture. While it's clear that emotions can be established on other

forms of figurative representation, language might be the most important. During the process of

labeling emotions, we are intermittently constructing and narrowing the distinctions of said

emotions based on experience in rudimentary ways. Once a specific emotion is given a label and

definition, from that point on, we experience our emotions guided by these descriptions. The way

in which we label our emotions alters the emotions we can have.10 Different languages, resulting

in different labels, allows human beings to recognize different emotions. Russell uses the

Japanese as an example. The word translated emotion, jodo, includes what we would consider

typical emotional states- happy, angry and sad. However, the word jodo also included what

might not be considered typical emotional states- considerate, lucky and motivated.11 The

9
Markus HR, Kitayama S. “Culture and the self: implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation.” Psychol Rev
no.98 (1991): 224-53
10
Nussbaum, Martha C. Upheavals of Thought the Intelligence of Emotions. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press (2009): 149
11
Russell, James A. "Culture and the Categorization of Emotions." Psychological Bulletin 110, no. 3 (1991): 426-50.
doi:10.1037//0033-2909.110.3.426
difference in defining what is considered an emotional state alters the emotional experience of

the individual. When examining the psychology of emotional experiences, the way in which a

person interprets an emotion is largely based off how that person would label their current

emotional state. There is emerging evidence that suggests that the concept of emotion is not

universal. In some cultures, such as the Tahitians, there is no word for emotion, resulting in the

concept of emotion being somewhat implicit. Although they do not have a word for emotion or

feeling, it’s argued that the various emotions have a specific set of features in common.12 The

Tahitians are thought to view emotional states as arising in the intestines and invoking the whole

person rather than a specific part of the person. They implement emotion as a relationship

between the person undergoing the emotion and the actions played out in the physical or social

environment by that person.13 Although there is no word for emotion, different cultures still

share a commonality in how they experience emotions and since emotion words vary by culture,

people from different cultures might respond and react to emotions in contrasting ways. The

words used to describe certain emotional states also varies by culture. For example, the Eskimos

have no word within their language that would equal anxiety. Although two words come very

close and are better translated to tension and worry.14 Certain languages have words without an

equivalent word in English. Reiterating the fact that language can alter certain emotional states.

An individual within a community who does not know how to properly define the linguistics of

an emotion, cannot be expected to experience the emotion in the same way as someone who does

understand the societal linguistics of emotions in his/her community.

12
Russell, James A. "Culture and the Categorization of Emotions." Psychological Bulletin 110, no. 3 (1991): 429-31.
doi:10.1037//0033-2909.110.3.426
13
Russell, James A. "Culture and the Categorization of Emotions." Psychological Bulletin 110, no. 3 (1991): 429.
doi:10.1037//0033-2909.110.3.426
14
Russell, James A. "Culture and the Categorization of Emotions." Psychological Bulletin 110, no. 3 (1991): 431-433.
doi:10.1037//0033-2909.110.3.426
 A person who is unable to recognize and label the proper emotions words, patterns and

linguistics within their society is going to be somewhat different than an individual who is able.

Nussbaum points out that this sheds light on an important societal issue within our country.

Males tend to be more likely than females to be inept at labeling their emotions. However, this

does not appear to be true in societies where men are more socialized to pay attention to these

things.15 American boys are encouraged to downplay their emotions and engage in things that

would be considered “boy things.” Oppositely, girls are encouraged to be emotional and do

things that would be categorized as “girl things.” The difference in how genders are socially

constructed to recognize their own emotions within separate cultures portrays just how much

influence society can have over our different emotional states. The differences in males and

females and how they categorize or label emotions gives strong support for the claim that the

way we experience and construct our emotions is largely based off of societal and cultural

influence. People of different cultures who speak different languages categorize emotions

somewhat differently. Since the English words for different emotional states are not universal

then we cannot assume that every human being experiences emotions the same biological way.

Not only can the social construction of emotions be linked to language. It’s also been

seen to be linked to cultural practices and experiences. “Emotions are social emergent in the

sense that they form part of the experience if a particular social group.”16 Closely tied to

experiences, practices also shape emotional life. Nussbaum uses the example of child rearing to

prove this point. In India, it’s common practice to carry your child on your hip with you at all

times during the first months of life. However, the Indian mother rarely interacts with the child.

15
Nussbaum, Martha C. Upheavals of Thought the Intelligence of Emotions. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press (2009): 150
16
E. Doyle McCarthy “Emotions are Social Things” (1989): 56-57
The mother spends little time talking to her child or interacting with it, usually because she has

other children to tend to. By contrast, American infants usually have longer periods of separation

from the mother’s body but the American mother tends to speak to the child while smiling. This

is due to the fact that the American mother can spend more time with her child because she often

has less other children to tend to.17 The differences in child rearing can have an effect on the

child when he or she is no longer a child. It’s been proven that when a child is not given as much

attention or affection while the child is a baby, they will be less likely to give attention when

they are adults. The opposite can be seen for a child who is given attention and affection at a

young age. Knowledge and experiences can affect emotional states as well. We understand

different emotional states and how we should or should not act them out because we are

knowledgeable about them. At some point in all of our lives, somebody told us what our feelings

are and what they signify.18 In its various forms, knowledge teaches us when we have committed

an act of wrongdoing, what is anger and what is not, and how to decipher what love in our hearts

feels like. Without ever having the previous knowledge of what these certain feelings mean and

how we are expected to act upon them, we would never be able to decipher what emotion is

related to what feeling. Knowledge and experience coincide with each other when discussing

emotional states in that, in order to be knowledgeable about certain emotions we must have had

to experience them at some point. The knowledge we possess about our life experiences allows

us to attribute certain life events to certain emotions. Of course, depending on the culture, day to

day life events can range dramatically. Meaning, that our experiences and our knowledge of

different emotions vary depending on culture. Knowledge, experiences, and practices related to

17
Nussbaum, Martha C. Upheavals of Thought the Intelligence of Emotions. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press (2009): 154
18
E.Doyle McCarthy “Emotions are Social Things” (1989): 61
the shaping of the human person can be attributed to nature versus nurture debate. While

emotions and the acting out of emotions is a social construct, nature does in deed play a role in

how we experience emotions. The nature versus nurture debate and its relation to experiencing

emotions is not so complex as some might thing. As we have already seen, nurture is a large

component of ones emotions. However, it can also be seen that your nature plays a role in

experiencing emotions as well. Meaning, that biology plays a role in our emotional experiences.

Biology does, however, play a role in our emotions. Using the Stoics and their stance on

human beings and intellect we can conclude that although we are intellectual beings, we are still

subjected to the will of society. The Stoics have always been interested in reconstructing

themselves into better human beings. With that being said, part of their self-transformation was

an attempt to develop their character. In order to do so, they would insert themselves in situations

that induced fear with the intention of overcoming that fear. In order to prevent anger, they might

immerse themselves in conversational situations with difficult people. Largely due to their idea

of self-transformation, they believe that we are intellectual beings and because we are so, we are

able to possess control over society's influence on our emotions. However, that is not the case.

Our brain is made up of many components that make us who we are. A big component of

ourselves is our amygdala. The amygdala is located in the cerebral hemisphere and can be

explained as our emotion centers. The amygdala is responsible for our emotions and plays a

critical role in classical conditioning19 as well as attaching any emotional value to certain

processes or memories. Classical conditioning can arise out of a society and its influence on how

we behave and what we attain to certain things. So, although the Stoics are right in stating that

we are intellectual beings, they are wrong when they say we have control over society's influence

19
Classical conditioning is a learning process where two different stimuli are paired together repeatedly
on our emotional responses. From the moment of birth, we slowly become classically

conditioned within society on how to react to certain emotional life events. Take, for example, a

young child who is mad at a classmate and hits him. The child in question gets in trouble and,

after the same repeated outcome, the child learns not to hit when angry. Regardless of intellect,

our society, environment and the amygdala, play a critical role in how we experience and react to

emotions.

To conclude, emotions are best seen as social agents that are constructed within a set

society that contains certain norms. While we can agree that emotions elicit some kind of

biological response, it's best to study emotions as a matter under societal investigation.

Language, knowledge, and experiences all shape the ways in which we can understand emotions.

Due to the fact that emotions are the byproduct of the social learning theory, we can assume that

emotions are in fact, socially and culturally constructed with little consciousness involved. What

we attribute to certain emotions and how we experience them vary by culture and societies. The

social construction of emotions plays a large role in the shaping of an individual’s emotional life

within a community. In a sense, how our emotions are portrayed socially and communally can

shape an individual’s identity. The way in which we experience emotions and act them out is all

a learned behavior based on which the environment you were born into. Emotions make up a

large portion of who we are, so in a sense, our emotions are part of our identity. Concluding that

human identity is indeed influenced by community and that emotions are socially and culturally

constructed properties of our identity.