Week 6: Differences in Emotional Expressivity 25 May 2020

Week 6: Differences in Emotional Expressivity

25 May 2020

     Hello everyone!

     In this post, I’m going to discuss how cultures differ in emotional expressiveness. I will also share some thoughts on how to make a balance in a multicultural classroom. 

    Every culture is unique in its way. In some places, people tend to express most of their emotions around other people, and it is considered a norm. Some countries that have a high tolerance for emotions expressed publicly are the Hispanic cultures, the Middle East, Southern Europe (Italy, Iran, Mexico, etc). On the contrary, other cultures don't allow that people express their feelings in public. Such countries are the Scandinavian and the Asian ones. Now, this does not mean that people, in some countries, do not have emotions and feelings. People, all over the world, experience the same things mentally. They can feel sad, happy, angry, anxious, nervous, worried, surprised, scared, grief, etc. In private, these feelings are expressed spontaneously and not consciously. Additionally, there are countries that fall somewhere in the middle because of the diversity within the country (the USA, the UK, etc).

 

     So, there happen to be many misconceptions because of how people interpret emotions from different backgrounds. Sometimes, the consequences of this are not big or too bad, but other times, major conflicts may arise. For example, if the employer and the employee show their feelings differently, then they can easily misinterpret things and get frustrated.

     Now, in TESOL classrooms, where there are students from different countries, the teacher should be careful with situations that may arise because of misunderstandings. Teachers should learn about some special characteristics of other cultures, so they can handle conflict situations well. They can do their research, or schools can organize events on cultural awareness. Parents too should highly be encouraged to participate in such events because they participate in this process of learning about other cultures.

     In conclusion, always keep in mind that what you see may not be what is really going on. A person you interact with may be smiling, however, he/she may be feeling something completely different than "joy" or "happiness." Another person who may look calm and relaxed may feel as nervous as you, in the appropriate situation. Let us take a different look at things we are so familiar with. 

    I invite you to pay attention to how people express their emotions where you live. Are there any cases when people misunderstand each other? 

 Mane Mamajanyan