Can Plan B Cause Frequent Urination

The answer to Darwin and Ekman comes from Japan.

Contrary to the assertions by Darwin and later by P. Ekman, Dr. Takahiko Masuda, a research professor of psychology at the University of Alberta (Canada), shows that facial expressions can be interpreted differently depending on the culture of origin.

The research was conducted in Japan and the United States. In Japan there is a strong tendency to control emotions, and attention is focused mainly on the eyes of the interlocutor. In the U.S., the emotions are externalized and is more inclined to focus on the mouth of the interlocutor to understand their emotions.

The researchers used computerized emoticons and pictures of human faces expressing an emotional state. The study results show that facial expressions are not interpreted universally, as it is thought in general. The culture of belonging is a key factor for their decoding on an emotional level, something which is especially noticeable considering the emoticons that are used in e-mail and the SMS.

Emoticons used in Japan to indicate happiness and sadness are characterized by a different eye blink, while those used in the United States differ in the position of the mouth. For example, the United States the emoticons:) and :-) indicates happiness, while: (and show :-( sadness. In Japan they prefer using, respectively, emoticons and (;_;). (^_^)

During the experiment, the researchers noted that the Japanese, to understand what kind of emotion could express the emoticon, focused on the eyes. In a culture where emotions are not expressed clearly it is understandable that the eyes look more capable of a blink less pronounced, and not the mouth that is the most expressive face, as it showed to the Americans.

A possible corollary to the research is that the Japanese would be more ready to tackle the false expressions friendly just by looking at the position of the eyes of the interlocutor. But more studies are needed to confirm this.

reference to this article: Masaki
Yukia, William W. Madduxb, Takahiko Masuda, Are the windows to the soul the examination in the East and West? Cultural Differences in using the eyes and mouth as cues to Recognize emotions in Japan and the United States , Journal of Experimental Social Psychology