ABSTRACT

The relationship between culture and emotional expressions has long fascinated scholars and laypersons alike. In this chapter I review the evidence concerning this relationship and describe recent studies from my laboratory that answer major gaps in this literature. This new evidence indicates that facial expressions are universally produced in real-life, naturalistic settings when emotions are elicited, and that they are are universally recognized. Other new evidence, also reviewed in this chapter, indicates that facial expressions of emotion are universally produced by congenitally blind individuals. Taken together, I believe that facial expressions of emotion are part of the response package of an evolved, biologically based, core emotion system.