Burkina Faso and France: A Gross-Cultural Study of the Judgment of Action Readiness in Facial Expressions of Emotion A. Tcherkassof & F. de Suremain |
Previous research has documented that the major forms of emotional action
readiness are likely to be universal and that the main forms of states of action
readiness are exhibited in facial expressions of emotion. A comparative study
between an African (Burkinabe) and an European (French) population was
conducted in order to investigate how these two cultures assess facial expressions of
four emotions (jay, sadness, anger and fear) in terms of action readiness modes as
well as in terms of emotion labels. Results show that specific patterns of action
readiness modes characterize the facial expressions. According to discriminant
analyses, these patterns yield high percentages of correct classifications, comparable
to those yielded with emotion labels ratings. Action readiness patterns even allow,
far the African group, better classifications of the facial expressions than do the
emotion labeling. Finally, an ethnic bias seems to emerge. Compared to black faces,
white faces are slightly better classified by French participants whereas black faces
are somewhat better classified than are white ones by Burkinabe participants, except
for anger expressions which profile of result differ from the other facial expressions.
Key words: action readiness, facial expressions of emotion, Burkina Faso/Africa, France/Europe, black and white faces |