Emotion semantics show both cultural variation and universal structure

Joshua Conrad Jackson; Joseph Watts; Teague R Henry; Johann Mattis List; Robert Forkel; Peter Mucha; Simon Greenhill; Russell D Gray; Kristen A Lindquist

doi:10.1126/science.aaw8160

Emotion semantics show both cultural variation and universal structure

Joshua Conrad Jackson, Joseph Watts, Teague R Henry, Johann Mattis List, Robert Forkel, Peter Mucha, Simon Greenhill, Russell D Gray, Kristen A Lindquist

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

Abstract

Many human languages have words for emotions such as "anger" and "fear," yet it is not clear whether these emotions have similar meanings across languages, or why their meanings might vary. We estimate emotion semantics across a sample of 2474 spoken languages using "colexification"—a phenomenon in which languages name semantically related concepts with the same word. Analyses show significant variation in networks of emotion concept colexification, which is predicted by the geographic proximity of language families. We also find evidence of universal structure in emotion colexification networks, with all families differentiating emotions primarily on the basis of hedonic valence and physiological activation. Our findings contribute to debates about universality and diversity in how humans understand and experience emotion.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1517-1522
Journal	Science
Volume	366
Issue number	6472
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaw8160
Publication status	Published - 2019

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title = "Emotion semantics show both cultural variation and universal structure",

abstract = "Many human languages have words for emotions such as {"}anger{"} and {"}fear,{"} yet it is not clear whether these emotions have similar meanings across languages, or why their meanings might vary. We estimate emotion semantics across a sample of 2474 spoken languages using {"}colexification{"}—a phenomenon in which languages name semantically related concepts with the same word. Analyses show significant variation in networks of emotion concept colexification, which is predicted by the geographic proximity of language families. We also find evidence of universal structure in emotion colexification networks, with all families differentiating emotions primarily on the basis of hedonic valence and physiological activation. Our findings contribute to debates about universality and diversity in how humans understand and experience emotion.",

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T1 - Emotion semantics show both cultural variation and universal structure

AU - Jackson, Joshua Conrad

AU - Watts, Joseph

AU - Henry, Teague R

AU - List, Johann Mattis

AU - Forkel, Robert

AU - Mucha, Peter

AU - Greenhill, Simon

AU - Gray, Russell D

AU - Lindquist, Kristen A

PY - 2019

Y1 - 2019

N2 - Many human languages have words for emotions such as "anger" and "fear," yet it is not clear whether these emotions have similar meanings across languages, or why their meanings might vary. We estimate emotion semantics across a sample of 2474 spoken languages using "colexification"—a phenomenon in which languages name semantically related concepts with the same word. Analyses show significant variation in networks of emotion concept colexification, which is predicted by the geographic proximity of language families. We also find evidence of universal structure in emotion colexification networks, with all families differentiating emotions primarily on the basis of hedonic valence and physiological activation. Our findings contribute to debates about universality and diversity in how humans understand and experience emotion.

AB - Many human languages have words for emotions such as "anger" and "fear," yet it is not clear whether these emotions have similar meanings across languages, or why their meanings might vary. We estimate emotion semantics across a sample of 2474 spoken languages using "colexification"—a phenomenon in which languages name semantically related concepts with the same word. Analyses show significant variation in networks of emotion concept colexification, which is predicted by the geographic proximity of language families. We also find evidence of universal structure in emotion colexification networks, with all families differentiating emotions primarily on the basis of hedonic valence and physiological activation. Our findings contribute to debates about universality and diversity in how humans understand and experience emotion.

U2 - 10.1126/science.aaw8160

DO - 10.1126/science.aaw8160

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SN - 0036-8075

VL - 366

SP - 1517

EP - 1522

JO - Science

JF - Science

IS - 6472

ER -

Emotion semantics show both cultural variation and universal structure

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