1. Culture does have an influence of emotions, because as is with other things,
controlling your emotions is something you learn at a young age, based on
how you see other people react to similar situations.
2. In our culture, happiness and love are endorsed emotions.
3. An example of an emotion with negative connotations in our culture is
suffering, as it can be seen as a sin. Another emotion with negative
connotations is shame, because it means seeing yourself in a bad way.
4. Shame across cultures is seen very differently. Western culture sees shame
in a negative way, while places like China see it as a way of motivating
people. I consider the second one more appropriate because it teaches us that
we learn from mistakes.
5. I think that women are more encouraged to display emotion as opposed to
men, but not in a direct way. In my experience, if a woman feels depressed
and she is reaching out for help, she is taken seriously and is given help,
while men are told to “man up”.
6. I feel like all emotions have a very important role, and they should not be
hidden from our culture.
7. Happiness and sadness are emotions that are displayed and recognized
similarly across cultures, because these are universal emotions that every
single person goes through in their lifetime.
8. The display of emotions is influenced a lot by the cultural context because of
the way that they are perceived. In some cultures, saying that you feel a
certain way can make you look like a crazy person.
9. Happiness is the emotion that every one of us lives for.
10. The way suffering is seen across cultures shows that some cultures live
better lives than others. Buddhism teaches that suffering is a normal part of
life, because most Buddhist people live in developing countries where they
live harder lives. Meanwhile in Eastern Europe it can be considered a sin
because it is seen as an emotion that should not be felt.
11. Symptoms of depression may vary according to culture because different
cultures have different ways of seeing people. In the US, where the emphasis
is placed on the psychological symptoms, is a more advanced country that
has put lots of research into understanding depression. At the same time, in
China for example, depression is expressed as a bodily symptom, because of
the lack of understanding of what’s going on in a depressed person’s head.