An Experience Sampling and Cross-Cultural Investigation of the Relation between Pleasant and Unpleasant Emotion

• Main Authors: SCOLLON, Christie N., DIENER, Ed, OISHI, Shigehiro, BISWAS-DIENER, Robert
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2005
• Subjects: negative affect; United States; emotions; mood; individualism; collectivism; bipolarity; feelings; Japanese; ratings; Multicultural Psychology; Social Psychology
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/923; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/1922/viewcontent/Scollon_et_al__2005_.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

The present study examined whether the relation between pleasant and unpleasant emotion varies across cultures and level of analysis (i.e., within-person vs. between-person). A total of 386 participants included European Americans, Asian Americans, Japanese, Indian, and Hispanic students. Momentary mood was assessed up to 7 times daily for one week. At the between-persons level, pleasant and unpleasant mood were positively correlated among Asian Americans and Japanese, but were uncorrelated among the other groups. Factor correlations at the within-person level were strongly negative in all cultures, suggesting that pleasant and unpleasant feelings are rarely experienced at the same time. Implications for dialectical experiences are discussed.