Facial Expressions and Emoticons are Cultural
An article in the Science and Environment section of BBC News explains how new research shows that the way people interpret facial expressions can vary across cultures.
“In the study, East Asians were more likely than Westerners to read the expression for ‘fear’ as ‘surprise’, and ‘disgust’ as ‘anger.’
“The researchers say the confusion arises because people from different cultural groups observe different parts of the face when interpreting expression.
“East Asian participants tended to focus on the eyes of the other person, while Western subjects took in the whole face, including the eyes and the mouth.”
The same goes for emoticons when chatting online or writing emails. East Asian cultures utilize emoticons that express different emotions by altering the eyes, while in Western cultures, the mouth is what changes. Cross-cultural communication is a challenge if you’re not aware of these subtle differences.
Click here to read the full article.
