Emotional expression and communication

¶ … American culture of interest and select another culture of interest to you (Japanese). Think about the emotional expressions that you might observe in the two cultures during rites of passage, such as births, wedding ceremonies, and funerals. In addition, consider the similarities and differences of the expressions of the emotions that you might observe.

With these thoughts in mind:

Write a brief description of the two cultures you selected. Then describe how each culture typically expresses two emotions (e.g., happiness, sadness, fear, and anger). Finally explain how these cultures influence the expression of these emotions.

Confucianism has been the most powerful influence shaping Japanese conception for the past thousands of years, and it has had an impact too on influencing emotion. Contrary to Western ideology that perceives each person's life as being distinct and unique and therefore each person responsible for him or herself, Confucianism sees interconnectedness with each individual forming a link in an n ancestral chain. The family or clan is therefore the center of one's life and instead of a next world being important (as was the belief in classical Western thought), this world becomes supremely important tin that that each cares for, and is connected with, his family. Diligence is, therefore, a vaunted and emphasized value, as is frugality, suppression of selfish desires, and the attempt to live a virtuous, and dignified life. Confucianism also records harmony between man and nature and between man and social interactions.

Happiness, according to Asian values, is acquired by adherence to four categories: Family variables that include family and clan responsibilities as well as obedience to one's elders. Group variables that include acceptance of the hierarchical structure of society; trust in and obedience to authority; and a commitment to the norms of the group. Job-orientation variables that include education, skills, hard work, and frugality. And Disposition variables that represent austerity, calmness, humility, and self-control.

In comparison Western values accord significance to only one category: that of hard work and frugality (although this is more in theory than in practice). The Western person is told to think for himself and to be 'his own individual'. He is told to question norms and adopt his own values -- the more deviant the better. He may be told to practice self-control -- as means to accumulate wealth and Western success -- but is certainly not required to acquire humility or austerity. Western culture, in other words, is the precise opposite of Confucian values, and, accordingly, Western conception of happiness differs too.