CHANGING EMOTIONS: BOB, ME, AND OTHER IMMIGRANTS

Batja MesquitaUniversity of LeuvenMarch 13th, 2010

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 emotionsSocially

Disengaged Socially Engaged

Independence andautonomy

Relatednessbetween 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

Engaging Disengaging2

2.2

2.4

2.6

2.8

3

3.2

3.4

3.6

3.8

4

4.2

4.4

Engaging Disengaging2

2.2

2.4

2.6

2.8

3

3.2

3.4

3.6

3.8

4

4.2

4.4Positive Emotions Negative emotions

(Kitayama, Mesquita, & Karasawa, JPSP, 2006)

A

J

A

J

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.

Engagement=

Disengaged

Engaged

Valence =GoodBad

(DeLeersnyder, Mesquita, & Kim, under review)

Values and Emotions

Emotion Scales Positive disengaged α = .74 (3

items) Positive engaged α = .86 (5

items) Negative disengaged α = .81 (4

items) Negative engaged α = .76 (4

items) (DeLeersnyder & Mesquita, in preparation)

Values

Person

focused

Otherfocuse

d

protection

growth

Values

Otherfocuse

d

growth

protection

Person

focused

Value itemsBelgians 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 situationValue % used

Independence 84.5%

Setting one’s goals 77.7%

Politeness 75.5%

Loyalty 70.0%

Succeeeding 66.0%

Ambition 63.3%

Taking the lead 62.0%

Respect 58.0%

Helping others 51.6%

Tradition 44.7%

Belief/religion 22.0%

Values

Person

focused

Otherfocuse

d

protection

growth

disengaged engaged

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

Person

focused

Otherfocuse

d

protection

growth

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 Study91 participants

Korean immigrants (n=47) Euro-Americans (n=44)

Belgium Study267 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

Demographics

Place of Birth Parents’ Place of

Birth Age of

Immigration Education

Scale for Emotional

Acculturation (SEA)

Different types of situations (PE, PD, NE, ND)

Different contexts: work, family,

17 emotion ratings

Acculturation Questions

Values/customsSocial relationships

X

Heritage /Mainstream

Emotional Concordance

Mainstream Average Mean Mainstream American / Flemish Belgian ratings on 17 emotion items (by emotional situation and social context)

Individual concordance scoresCorrelation of the scores of each individual with the mainstream average (matched by emotional situation and social context)

Emotional Concordance

r = .28

r = .94Belgian Mean Emotional Pattern

Individual Migrants’ Emotional Patterns

Positive Disengaging SituationIn 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

College (tertiary) High School (secondary)

Values & Customs (Ryder, Alden & Paulhus 2000)

mainstream/heritage

Social contact and

language Mainstream friends and

neighbours

Age of immigration # years in Belgium / Age Education

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 immigrationStudy 1 (US) B SE ß R2

Valence -.397

.048 -.684

.572

Education .161 .074 .191 .573

Age of immigration -.010

.002 -.449

.738 (p ≤.001)

Study 2 (Belgium) B SE ß R2

Valence -.447

.039 -.700

.486

Generation .035 .040 .053 .490

Education .069 .044 .097 .495

Age of immigration -.009

.004 -.139

.513 (p ≤.05)

Who has higher emotional concordance?

Proportion of life spent in the new cultureStudy 1 (US) B SE ß R2

Valence -.397

.046 -.690

.572

Education .155 .070 .184 .573

Proportion of life in US .399 .071 .471 .761 (p ≤.001)

Study 2 (Belgium) 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)

Who has higher emotional concordance?

LanguageB SE ß R2

Valence -.382

.055 -.659

.572

Education .104 .080 .123 .573

Heritage Language (Korean)Host Language (English)

-.029 .032

.012

.015-.242 .211

.683 (p = .003)

Study 1 (US)

B SE ß R2

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)

Study 2 (Belgium)

Who has higher emotional concordance?

Relationships with host cultureStudy 1 (US) B SE ß R2

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 .524 (p ≤ .05)

Study 2 (Belgium)

Who has higher emotional concordance?

Attitudes adoption Study 1 (US) B SE ß R2

Valence -.415

.050 -.714

.572

Education .131 .076 .156 .573

Adoption Values and TraditionsAdoption People

-.027 .070

.026

.018-.123 .487

.723 (p ≤ .001)

B SE ß R2

Valence -.454 .039 -.706

.495

Generation .042 .040 .065 .500

Education .044 .044 .062 .503

Adoption Values and TraditionsAdoption People

-.008 .008

.017

.019-.035 .028

.504

Study 2 (Belgium)

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

Trad

ition

Respe

ct

Polit

enes

s

Relig

ion

Helpi

ng0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

BelgianTurkish high contactTurkish low contact

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