AUSTRALIAN AND JAPANESE CONCEPTS OF EXPRESSIVE BEHAVIOR

This study investigated differences in the concepts of the expression of emotion held by Japanese and Australians for themselves and each ot her, both in terms of degree and kind of expressive behavior and in un derlying dimensionality. Through a structured questionnaire, 80 Austra lian and 80 Japanese male and female students indicated how they thoug ht they expressed eight emotions on 12 behaviors, and how someone of t he other nationality would express them. Results show Australians were rated as more expressive by Japanese and that Japanese may conceptual ize emotions as less intense. There was considerable agreement between the two groups on the level of expressivity of the Japanese. The dime nsions of positive/negative, arousal and ''affective focus'' were show n to underlie the concepts and to distinguish the two national groups to varying degrees.