US and Japanese adolescents’ emotions across time: variation by valence and arousal

Abstract

Experiencing emotions is a complex process that varies across social contexts (e.g., culture) and over time. The current research examined the levels and trajectories of self-reported emotions among US (n = 321) and Japanese (n = 388) adolescents (age range: 11–14 at Time 1). Emotions were conceptualized as high arousal positive (HAP), low arousal positive (LAP), high arousal negative (HAN), and low arousal negative (LAN). At each time point, US adolescents (vs. Japanese) showed greater positive and lower negative emotions (both arousal levels). Positive and negative emotions were negatively associated in the US, but the associations were not present or were positive in Japan. While US adolescents’ HAP and LAN emotions remained stable, Japanese adolescents showed increases in HAP and LAN emotions over time. However, both groups showed increases at similar rates for HAN and no change in LAP emotions. Collectively, findings suggest that emotions are both pancultural and culture-specific and highlight the value of considering valence and arousal in cross-cultural examinations of emotions.