Cross-Cultural Study of Ratings of Phenomenological Experience of Emotion

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Abstract
The phenomenology of the emotions, anger, fear, sadness, and pride was rated cross-culturally on 23 scales of the semantic-differential, and a hypothesis of cross-cultural agreement was tested. Results were consistent with the hypothesis as 54 of 92 scales (or about 60%) showed similarity across the four cultures, and only 5 scales—a number certainly no greater than would be expected on the basis of chance—yielded ratings which reflected differences in phenomenology, i.e., significant deviations from neutrality lying at opposite poles of a dimension. A Scheffé subset analysis indicated that in two-thirds of our cases all four language-culture groups could be subsumed into one and that there was no case in which at least three of the groups could not be subsumed into one subset. Factor analyses were carried out, and factor scores generated for four factors for each of the four emotions, and across the four language-culture groups. Findings indicated a good deal of cross-cultural similarity (62%). The data are interpreted as supporting a hypothesis of universality in emotional experience.

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