META-EMOTION - TESTS OF THE LUTZ HYPOTHESIS

This study tested the hypothesis, proposed by the anthropologist Cathe rine Lutz (1988), that emotion is devalued in Western culture (and hen ce in Western scientific psychology) relative to cognition, although i t is valued over ''estrangement.'' Alternate versions of an emotion ve rsus cognition and an emotion versus estrangement questionnaire were d eveloped using terms taken directly from Lutz or supplied by the autho rs; the questionnaire format was designed to match as literally as pos sible the wording of Lutz's argument. Each of 187 undergraduate studen ts responded to one of the four questionnaires by indicating on thirty 10-point rating scales which of two anchor words (e.g., rational, irr ational; masculine, feminine) was closer to the concept, cognition (as contrasted with emotion) or, in the alternate version, emotion (as co ntrasted with cognition); similarly, the subjects responded to one of two symmetrical versions of an emotion versus estrangement questionnai re. They also indicated which member of the pair of words defining eac h of the 30 scales was the more positive. The data were supportive of the Lutz hypothesis, both globally and with respect to most of the ind ividual scales, and for both male and female subjects. There were also some interesting unexpected findings with regard to the questionnaire version.