5/25/21; Week 6: Differences in Emotional Expressivity

Different Cultures...Different Ways to Express Emotions!

We, human beings, have much more in common than we can think of. Even though, it seems that over time, we prefer to focus on differences and believe it is a bad thing, instead of learning from each other ways of understanding the world and having the chance to enhance our own culture.

When we are not willing to understand or aware that people from different cultures will act and react differently from what we are used to, we open the doors of misunderstanding, intolerance, and unfriendliness.

Cultural differences embrace several aspects, including emotional expressivity. You may be thinking that the way we express ourselves emotionally is quite the same everywhere and that recognizing it in different cultures is not that difficult. The fact is that different cultures express their emotions differently and, getting to know how they do that helps individuals lead more harmonious relationships in a multicultural context.

In Brazil, for example, when we are happy, we usually display it openly through big smiles, being talkative, willing to share this good feeling with people around us. That's not a rule of thumb, but at the highest level of happiness, a Brazilian can hug a stranger in a euphoric moment.

Hey, you got it wrong! 

A Cultural Emotional Misunderstanding!

My first cultural emotional misunderstand occurred when I traveled abroad for the first time. I was heading to Canada, alone. I was euphoric with the chance of experiencing the English language culture. While waiting in the airport for my connection flight, an airline employee, an American young man, came to see if I needed anything. I started a friendly conversation with him. As you might know, Brazilians are not aware of this idea of personal space, so I was probably talking very close to this guy, smiling and telling him about my feelings and expectations about my adventure. We even exchanged personal information. I was excited about making friends abroad! Afterwhile I got a message from this guy, Josh, and reading it, I could see that he had misinterpreted our conversation, thinking I was signaling availability to be on a romantic date, even being married. In a nutshell, we managed the misunderstanding and laughed at his interpretation of my happiness and body language. In the end, we became good friends.

Once we deal with people with a different cultural background or from another cultural environment, it is paramount not to read the person's behavior superficially or wear our "cultural glasses" to understand it. We can make a better effort to promote understanding and tolerance than we have been doing so far. Instead of focusing on how people act and react differently towards emotions, what about learning from them and enriching our knowledge and cultural skills?

Brazilians are affectionate and emotionally expressive.

References

Lifey. (2013, July 23). Brazilians are affectionate and emotionally expressive [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oITtDE8wxzU