能否“对陌生人微笑”?——从情感估价理论看微笑的文化差异

Shall We Smile at Strangers?—Cultural Differences in Smiles from the Perspective of Emotional Valuation Theory

不同国家和民族对能否在公众场合向陌生人微笑有不同的规约。该研究首次基于情感估价理论对东西方文化中微笑的复杂含义进行解读,分别从情感状态分类、情感状态的影响因素、理想情感的作用几方面进行剖析。研究发现,不同国家、民族对陌生人微笑的处理方式不同;其与微笑的规范性和元规范性有较强相关;西方人倾向于高唤醒、积极的理想情感,东方人倾向于低唤醒、积极的理想情感;理想情感来源社会实践中的文化影响和社会目标;西方人较东方人更倾向于影响他人,因此更易对陌生人微笑。该研究为阐释东西方对陌生人微笑的差异提供了新的解读视角。

Different countries and ethnic groups have different rules on whether to smile at strangers in public.This study is the first to interpret the complex meanings of smiles in Eastern and Western cultures based on the theory of emotional valuation,analyzing the classification of emotional states,influencing factors of emotional states,and the role of ideal emotions.It is found that different countries and ethnic groups are different in whether to smile;the smiling-to-strangers routine is strongly related to the normativity and meta-normativity of social rules;Westerners tend to have high arousal and positive ideal emotions,while Easterners tend to have low arousal and positive ideal emotions;ideal emotions originate from the cultural factors and social goals in social practice;Westerners are more inclined to influence others than Easterners,so they are more likely to smile at strangers.The study provides a new perspective for explaining the differences in smiles between East and West towards strangers.