How Culture Shapes the Emotions We Feel

It may be surprising, but the emotions we experience are strongly influenced by culture and the environment we grow up in. Psychologist and neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett explains this idea in her book How Emotions Are Made, where she challenges the traditional belief that emotions are universal and biologically fixed. Instead, she argues that emotions are constructed by the brain using concepts we learn throughout life. Language and culture play a central role in this process.

From early childhood, we learn emotion words by hearing them used in different situations. Over time, these words connect diverse experiences into a single emotional concept. Once such a concept exists, the brain can create that emotion in many different contexts. This means that if a culture does not have a specific word or concept for an emotion, people may still experience something similar, but in a less clear or conscious way.

Different cultures also understand emotions in different ways. In some societies, emotions are not seen as private inner states but as events that occur between people. For example, certain island communities in Micronesia view anger not as a feeling inside one person, but as a situation involving interaction between individuals. This shows that emotions are shaped not only by the brain, but also by shared cultural meanings.

Learning about emotions from other cultures can help develop emotional intelligence. The more emotional concepts we know, the more precisely we can understand, express, and regulate our feelings. Expanding this emotional vocabulary allows for deeper self awareness and stronger connections with others.

Some cultures have words for emotions that do not exist in other languages. One example is Awumbuk, a term used by a tribe in Papua New Guinea to describe the feeling of emptiness after guests leave the house. Another is the French expression l’appel du vide, which refers to the sudden urge to jump when standing near a dangerous edge. In Japan, the word Amae describes the comfort of relying on another person’s care and acceptance, similar to the trust of a child. These examples show how culture gives shape and meaning to emotional experiences that might otherwise remain unnamed.