Happy and shameful experiences among ethnic groups in Indonesia: Cognitive, affective and behavioral Dimensions

Abstract

The way people experience emotion depends on how they appraise the event. If the event is congruent with the individual’s goal and beliefs, she/he is likely to experience a positive emotion, but if it is incongruent, then she/he is likely to experience a negative emotion. Moreover, the process of appraisal is influenced by “what is taught” in a particular culture, so, what is considered shameful in one culture may have little significance for another culture. This study compares happiness and shameful experience in four ethnic groups, the Javanese, the Balinese, the Minang, and the Dayakis, in the islands of Java, Bali, West Sumatera, and South Kalimantan, respectively. Each one of these ethnic groups has unique characteristics in terms of the power system in the family and openness to external world. It is assumed that the norms and beliefs in each group have significant impact on emotional experiences. Each participant was asked to share his/her happy andshameful experience and afterwards to answer several questions in regard to the cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions of those experiences. The study revealed that among three of the ethnic groups, the Minang, the Balinese and the Dayakis, there are no substantial differences in happy experiences with only the Javanese differing slightly, but there is an indication that shameful experience seems to be more culture specific than happy experience.