Batja Mesquita
University of Leuven
March 13th, 2010
CHANGING EMOTIONS:
BOB, ME, AND OTHER IMMIGRANTS
Photography: Michael Zajonc
“The authors of this textbook know a man
who is Polish, grew to adolescence in
Poland, but has already lived in the United
States for more than 50 years. Quite
frequently, the man admits, “I have lived
here for many years, but I am still not
completely comfortable with Americans’
emotions. They smile all the time, and say
that they are ‘happy’“
(Niedenthal, Krauth-Gruber, & Ric, 2007)
A new generation of Zajonc immigrants
“Conformity may require from [the stranger] a
rather threatening reorganization of the deeper
layers of his superego (…) The reason for this is that
the stranger’s superego was molded in an
environment that is not the one that now requires
conformity from him.”(Zajonc, 1952, p. 206/7)
 Given the need to conform, attitudinal aggression
of the stranger is a function of his difficulty in
conformity
 Attitudinal aggression as a result of frustration in
conformity will be greater for strangers with long
residence than for those with short residence
Aggressive Attitudes
Cultural Differences in Emotion Patterns
 Emotions that are consistent with the cultural
meanings and practices are promoted, while
emotions that are inconsistent are discouraged
(Mesquita, 2003; Mesquita & Leu, 2007)
Different classes of emotions
Socially Disengaged
Socially Engaged
Independence and
autonomy
Relatedness
between people
Pride
Friendly
Feelings of superiority
Sympathy
Anger
Shame
(Kitayama, Mesquita, & Karasawa, 2006)
Predictions
 Disengaged emotions will be relatively more
frequent in American culture
 Engaged emotions will be relatively more
frequent in Japanese culture
Negative emotions
Positive Emotions
4.4
4.4
4.2
4.2
4
4
3.8
3.8
3.6
3.6
A
3.4
3.4
3.2
3.2
3
3
2.8
2.8
2.6
2.6
2.4
2.4
J
2.2
J
2.2
A
2
2
Engaging
Disengaging
Engaging
Disengaging
(Kitayama, Mesquita, & Karasawa, JPSP, 2006)
Values & Emotions
Please think about a recent occasion in which you felt
bad about your relationships with others (for
example. indebted. ashamed. guilty. sad or sorry for
another. afraid of troubling another. awkward).
Please describe the situation briefly. Provide as much
detail as needed for somebody to understand why you
felt that way in this situation.
Valence =
Good
Bad
Engagement
=
Disengaged
Engaged
(DeLeersnyder, Mesquita, & Kim, under review)
Values and Emotions
Emotion Scales
 Positive disengaged
 Positive engaged
 Negative disengaged
 Negative engaged
α = .74 (3 items)
α = .86 (5 items)
α = .81 (4 items)
α = .76 (4 items)
(DeLeersnyder & Mesquita, in preparation)
Values
growth
Person
focused
Other
focused
protection
Values
growth
Other
focused
Person
focused
protection
Value items
Belgians high on
 Self-direction
 Independence, setting one’s own goals
 Benevolence:
 Helping others, loyalty
Belgians less high on
 Achievement/power:
 Taking the lead, Succeeding, Ambition
 Conformity/Tradition:
 Tradition, belief/religion, Politeness, Respect
People use the most highly endorsed cultural
values to evaluate an emotional situation
Value
Independence
% used
84.5%
Setting one’s goals
Politeness
Loyalty
77.7%
75.5%
70.0%
Succeeeding
Ambition
Taking the lead
Respect
66.0%
63.3%
62.0%
58.0%
Helping others
Tradition
Belief/religion
51.6%
44.7%
22.0%
Values
growth
Person
focused
Other
focused
disengaged
engaged
protection
Odds-ratios for all values
VALUE
Times more
likely
significance
Succeeding
4 x in disenagged
p ≤ .001
Ambition
3 x in disengaged
p ≤ .001
Loyalty
2 x in engaged
p ≤ .05
Helping others
1.7 x in engaged
p = .074
Values
growth
Person
focused
Other
focused
protection
Emotion & Values
 People’s feelings are related to the values
that are activated in the situation.
 Culturally central values are more likely to
be activated than peripheral values
 People’s emotions reflect their cultural
affiliation
Emotional Acculturation
US Study
91 participants
 Korean immigrants (n=47)
 Euro-Americans (n=44)
Belgium Study
267 participants
 Belgians (n=99)
 Turkish first generation (n=78)
 Turkish second generation (n=90)
Emotional acculturation
1.
Emotional concordance with mainstream emotional patterns
is higher for mainstream people than for immigrants
2.
Concordance for immigrants is predicted by exposure to
mainstream culture and relationships with mainstream
others
3.
Emotional acculturation is not associated with self-reported
acculturation of values and identity.
Methods
 Place of Birth
 Parents’ Place of
Birth
 Age of Immigration
 Education



Different types of
situations (PE, PD,
NE, ND)
Different contexts:
work, family,
17 emotion ratings
Values/customs
Social relationships
X
Heritage /Mainstream
Emotional Concordance
Mean Mainstream American / Flemish Belgian
ratings on 17 emotion items (by emotional
situation and social context)
Correlation of the scores of each individual with
the mainstream average (matched by emotional
situation and social context)
Emotional
Concordance
Belgian Mean Emotional Pattern
Individual Migrants’ Emotional Patterns
r = .94
r = .28
Positive Disengaging Situation
In family context
Mainstream & minority concordance
Study 1 (US)
Study 2 (Belgium)
Who are the immigrants with higher
emotional concordance?
Study 1 (US)
Study 2 (belgium)
 Age of immigration
 # years in US/ Age
 Education
 Age of immigration
 # years in Belgium / Age
 Education
 College (tertiary)
 High School (secondary)
 Values & Customs
(Ryder, Alden & Paulhus 2000)
 mainstream/heritage
 Social contact and
language

Mainstream friends and neighbours
 University (tertiary)
 Secondary school (secondary)
 Values & Customs
(Ryder, Alden & Paulhus 2000)
 mainstream/heritage
 Social contact and
language

Social contexts in which people have
interactions with mainstream
Who has higher emotional concordance?
Age of immigration
Study 1 (US)
R2
B
SE
ß
Valence
-.397
.048
-.684 .572
Education
.161
.074
.191
Age of immigration
-.010
.002
-.449 .738 (p ≤.001)
B
SE
ß
Valence
-.447
.039
-.700 .486
Generation
.035
.040
.053
.490
Education
.069
.044
.097
.495
Age of immigration
-.009
.004
-.139 .513 (p ≤.05)
Study 2 (Belgium)
.573
R2
Who has higher emotional concordance?
Proportion of life spent in the new
culture
Study 1 (US)
R2
B
SE
ß
Valence
-.397
.046
-.690 .572
Education
.155
.070
.184
.573
Proportion of life in US
.399
.071
.471
.761 (p ≤.001)
B
SE
ß
R2
Valence
-.462
.039
-.721 .509
Generation
.008
.040
.012
.510
Education
.066
.044
.094
.514
Proportion of life in Belgium
.233
.115
.127
.529 (p ≤.05)
Study 2 (Belgium)
Who has higher emotional concordance?
Language
Study 1 (US)
B
SE
ß
R2
Valence
-.382 .055
-.659 .572
Education
.104
.123
Heritage Language (Korean)
Host Language (English)
-.029 .012
.032 .015
Study 2 (Belgium)
.080
.573
-.242 .683 (p = .003)
.211
R2
B
SE
ß
Valence
-.447
.038
-.695 .492
Generation
.042
.039
.064
.498
Education
.056
.042
.079
.501
Heritage Language (Turkish)
Host Language (Dutch)
.000
.046
.019
.015
.000
.183
.534 (p = .010)
Who has higher emotional concordance?
Relationships with host culture
R2
Study 1 (US)
B
SE
ß
Valence
-.384
.057
-.663 .572
Education
.070
.080
.083
.573
Social Contact w. Euro-Americans
.104
.034
.308
.653 (p =.004)
B
SE
ß
R2
Valence
-.436
.040
-.676 .495
Generation
.034
.041
.053
.501
Education
.005
.047
.007
.505
Relationships w. Belgians
-.038
.046
-.064 .505
Relationships X education
.183
.082
.184
Study 2 (Belgium)
.524 (p ≤ .05)
Who has higher emotional concordance?
Attitudes adoption
R2
Study 1 (US)
B
SE
ß
Valence
-.415
.050
-.714 .572
Education
.131
.076
.156
Adoption Values and Traditions
Adoption People
-.027
.070
.026
.018
-.123 .723 (p ≤ .001)
.487
B
SE
ß
Valence
-.454
.039
-.706 .495
Generation
.042
.040
.065
.500
Education
.044
.044
.062
.503
Adoption Values and Traditions
Adoption People
-.008
.008
.017
.019
-.035 .504
.028
Study 2 (Belgium)
.573
R2
Emotional concordance predicted by:
 Proportion of time spent in new culture (and
age of immigration
 Host language
 Contacts with host culture
NOT by self-reported adoption of traditions,
values, and identification
Values activated in emotional situations
100
90
80
70
60
50
Belgian
40
Turkish high contact
30
Turkish low contact
20
10
0
Were Bob’s emotions really
as non-American as he claimed?
 He spent the larger proportion of his life in
the US
 He adopted and used the English language
 He had many American friends, colleagues,
and an American family
 So…his emotions were likely to be somewhat
acculturated
Were Bob’s emotions really as
non-American as he claimed?
BUT:
 Celebrating Thanksgiving, rooting for
American sport teams, and even identifying
(Polish-)American are unrelated to having
American emotions
Attitudinal aggression
against American emotions?
(Zajonc, 1952)
Collaborators
Jozefien De Leersnyder
Heejung Kim
Shinobu Kitayama
Mayumi Karasawa