Article Analysis

There seems to be a great variation among cultural groups regarding emotional expression. Ethnographic studies indicate that some cultures are more expressive (e.g., hugging, kissing, and laughing boisterously) and others are more reserved (e.g., tilting their heads with a slight smile). This assignment requires you to read a research study that was conducted to determine whether these findings regarding cultural differences in emotional expression hold up under laboratory conditions.

For this assignment, read the following article:

Soto, J. A., Levenson, R. W., & Ebling, R. (2005). Cultures of moderation and expression: Emotional experience, behavior, and physiology in Chinese Americans and Mexican Americans. Emotion, 5(2), 154–165.

Then, address the following:

• • Summarize the purpose and the overall findings of the article. The summary should be in 50 words.

Note: The data analysis section might be difficult to follow. Just scan this section and concentrate on the discussion and conclusion.

• • What role do emotions play in human interactions?
  • Briefly state what previous studies have discovered about the universality of facial expressions.
  • Use another source to look up the purpose of the autonomic nervous system and ethnography. Write the definitions for both using 1–2 sentences for each.
  • What do ethnographic accounts tell us about how Chinese people view emotions?
  • What does somaticizing mean? Provide an example.
  • Are the previous findings on the emotional expression of the Mexican (Latino) culture consistent? Summarize the findings.
  • Look at the participants’ subsection of the Method section. Who were the participants? Do you think that the participants were appropriate for the study? Explain your answer.
  • Summarize the procedure used in the study in 2–3 sentences.
  • Read the discussion section. Which two hypotheses were supported by the results?
  • Review the physiological part of the discussion section. What is the rationale given for the physiological findings?
  • State one limitation of the study.
  • What was the most interesting thing you learned from the article?