The culture I would like to explore is Chinese culture. One article concerned with emotional expression in Chinese culture is “Contra-Hedonic Attitudes toward Pleasant Emotions in China,” written by Deng and Ding (2019). Deng and Ding (2019) state that Chinese people are discouraged from expressing emotions, including positive emotions. For example, before a significant event or after a large success, they are inclined to feel calm because, in Chinese culture, such emotional regulation is perceived as an attribute of future success (Deng & Ding, 2019). The research also showed that Chinese people who perceived the expression of positive emotions as negative had higher levels of depression (Deng & Ding, 2019). These findings are in line with Heine (2019), who asserts that culture may affect individuals’ mental health. It implies that when dealing with individuals from different cultures, one should be aware of their cultural perspectives.
From the article described, I learned that emotional expression in Chinese culture is different from that common in my African-American culture. For example, African Americans tend to express both positive and negative emotions, in contrast to Chinese people, who are inclined to remain calm in various situations. Moreover, African Americans seem to express positive emotions more strongly than negative ones, which is also different from Chinese individuals who refrain from showing joy, pride, or other positive emotions.
There are three reasons why the identified information will help me interact with Chinese people. First, I know now that I should not try to boost the spirits of my Chinese counterparts by trying to engage them in entertaining activities. Hedonism is not important to Chinese people in their daily lives, and happiness-boosting activities are not as effective for the Chinese as they are for Westerners (Deng & Ding, 2019; Heine, 2019). Second, the information will help me avoid misunderstanding the emotional responses of Chinese people. For example, I will not blame a Chinese person for coldness or disinterest if he or she does not show joy after some positive event. Third, I will be cautious when suspecting depression in Chinese people since a large number of positive emotions does not protect people from this culture against depression.
References
Deng, X., & Ding, X. (2019). Contra-hedonic attitudes toward pleasant emotions in China: Links to hedonism, emotion expression, and depression. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 38(2), 140-159.
Heine, S. J. (2019). Cultural psychology (4th ed.). W. W. Norton & Company.