In 1972, Paul Ekman conducted a cross-cultural study with a man from an isolated, preliterate culture in New Guinea who had never encountered outsiders. To investigate the universality of emotional display, Ekman asked the man to demonstrate the facial expressions he would use in specific scenarios, such as when friends visited, his child died, he was about to fight, or he stepped on a smelly dead pig. This research provided critical empirical evidence that the ability to produce emotional facial expressions is universal.

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Despite cultural display rules that dictate how emotions should be expressed, the fundamental ability to produce and recognize facial expressions of emotion is considered universal across all human cultures. This concept is supported by evidence from cross-cultural research, such as studies with isolated, preliterate societies, and the observation that congenitally blind individuals produce the same facial expressions as sighted people, suggesting these expressions are innate.

Universality of Emotional Expression

Spielman, R. M., Jenkins, W. J., & Lovett, M. D. (2020, April 22). Psychology (2nd ed.). OpenStax. https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/pages/1-introduction

OpenStax Psychology (2nd ed.) Textbook

Based on the provided scenario and your understanding of emotional expression, analyze the most likely reason for the apparent mismatch between the situation and the observed emotional display.

Cross-Cultural Emotional Interpretation

There is substantial evidence for seven universal emotions that are consistently associated with distinct facial expressions across different cultures. These seven emotions are happiness, surprise, sadness, fright, disgust, contempt, and anger.

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