We will repeat experiments we have performed in the United States in a non-Western culture in Indonesia, among the Minangkabau in Sumatra. Work in another culture is necessary, we believe, to help settle the debate about how to interpret our two recent findings on the expression and physiology of emotion: (1) there are different patterns of autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity for anger, fear, disgust and sadness; (2) voluntary performance of the facial expressions that universally signal these emotions generates emotion-specific ANS activity. We expect to replicate our findings, thereby supporting our theory which proposes that these phenomena are biologically based. We also expect to uncover specific differences which distinguish the Minangkabau from the American subjects, thereby beginning to delineate cultural influences on these biological components in emotion.
| Ekman, P (1993) Facial expression and emotion. Am Psychol 48:384-92 |
