ABSTRACT

Opportunities for interacting with members of other cultures have grown immensely over the last decades. Not only have many societies become increasingly multicultural, but also processes of globalization have tended to increase intercultural contact more generally. It has never been so easy to travel to countries all over the world, and we can also interact with people from different societies via the internet without traveling at all. When we meet people, either directly or remotely, in addition to communicating thoughts and attitudes, we also transmit emotions. However artificial or short-lived interpersonal encounters and social relations may be, they typically involve some degree of affective commitment or involvement, prompting pangs or passions of envy, admiration, love, hate, hope, or disappointment. Social interaction thus implies both experience and expression of feelings.