The influence of emotion and culture on language representation and processing

Abstract

Research focused on the study of emotion, specifically how it is mentally represented in the human memory system, is of great importance within the study of cognition. The current chapter will examine the factors that make emotion words unique, as compared to other word types (e.g., concrete and abstract words) that have traditionally been of interest. In particular, key findings from studies where cognitive paradigms were used to explore emotion are emphasized (e.g., Stroop tasks, priming, implicit memory tests, eye tracking, etc.). This chapter will describe the factors that influence how those who know and use more than one language process and express emotion, and the role that language selection plays on the level of emotion that is activated and displayed. Finally, cross-cultural differences in emotion are examined, primarily as they relate to differences in individualistic and collectivistic contexts.