magazine issue 1 2012 / Issue 13

Honor and Emotion

• written by Patricia M. Rodriguez Mosquera & Katie DiBona
• edited by Hans IJzerman

Those who value family honor respond more negatively when their families' reputations are threatened. In the same cross-cultural study mentioned above on real-life insult stories (Rodriguez Mosquera et al., 2002a), the Spanish participants (both males and females) reported more intense shame than the Dutch participants in response to a story on family dishonor. The story described a person who was seen by their community as a disgrace to their family: “You feel rejected by your own family. One of your uncles often makes negative comments about you, such as: ‘’You bring shame on the family.’ Others say to you: ‘‘Even your own family is ashamed of you,’’ This cultural difference was explained by the Spanish participants’ greater concern for the protection of family honor.

Similar findings emerged from a cross-cultural study between Pakistani and European-Americans (Rodriguez Mosquera, Tan, & Saleem, 2011). Participants were asked to write narratives about a real incident in which another person devalued their family. Verbal insults were the most commonly type of devaluation reported by all participants. However, an interesting cultural difference emerged in the intensity of emotional responses. The Pakistani participants felt more angry and ashamed in response to verbal insults toward their family than did the European-Americans. Moreover, the Pakistani participants appraised insults to their families as a greater threat to their own and their family’s honor. In other words, those who evaluated an insult as a threat to honor (the Pakistani participants) also experienced more intense negative emotions.

Of course, those who care about family do not only respond to threats, but also to affirmations to their family’s reputation. Recently, the cultural bases of happiness for Indian, English, and European-American adults were compared (Rodriguez Mosquera & Imada, 2011). The Indian participants valued family honor more than did the English and European-Americans. We found cross-cultural differences and similarities in predictors of happiness. Personal achievement was a significant predictor of happiness for all participants. However, the good reputation of one’s family only predicted the happiness of those participants who valued family honor the most (Indian participants). The more the families of these participants’ were respected and valued in their communities, the greater their happiness. Taken together, the findings of these studies reveal the profound influence of family honor on emotional experiences, an influence that extends to both positive and negative emotions.

Finally, what do people do when they feel anger and shame about an insult?

The research we have discussed so far describes emotional experiences, but not emotional expressions. We have shown that both anger and shame are relevant emotional responses to insults. But what do people do when they feel angry and ashamed about an insult? Are there cultural or sex-differences in these emotional expressions? These questions are important because shame is an especially positive emotion for those who value honor.

As explained in the introduction, the expression of shame is an expression of apology. We express our vulnerability to others as we disclose our failures and mistakes. Thus, when we express shame, we are telling others that we care about how they view us. Because honor is dependent on a good social image, shame is an especially positive emotion for those who value honor (Rodriguez Mosquera et al., 2000, 2004). It is therefore reasonable to expect that those who value honor highly will do something different when feeling shame about an insult compared to those who value honor less. This question was explored in a comparative study across three different ethnic groups: (white) Dutch, Moroccan-Dutch, and Turkish-Dutch (Rodriguez Mosquera, Fischer, Manstead, & Zaalberg, 2008). In this study, the Moroccan-Dutch and Turkish-Dutch were considered as one group. Although Moroccan- and Turkish-Dutch ethnic groups represent different cultural communities, their responses to insults were virtually identical. Moreover, they valued honor highly and to a similar degree, whereas the Dutch valued honor less.