Latin Americans are more expressive of emotions that promote social relationships with others.

What is it about?

When asked to think about a situation when something bad happened to someone close to them, Latin Americans expressed high levels of socially engaging emotions (emotions like friendly feelings and closeness). European Americans and Japanese showed this effect significantly less.

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Why is it important?

Latin Americans and East Asians are both considered more interdependent or collectivistic compared to European Americans. However, the way in which they achieve interdependence with others is different. One way this can be revealed is in their patterns of emotional expression. Although both Latin Americans and East Asians tend to be more expressive of emotions that promote or restore interdependence, the types of emotions they are more expressive of differ. In some situations East Asians tend to be more expressive of negative engaging emotions (e.g., guilt) more than disengaging emotions (e.g., anger). Latin Americans instead tend to show the greater expression of engaging emotions with positive emotions, particularly in situations when something bad happens to others.

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