Foundations of Indian Psychology, Volume 1

18

Psychology of Emotions: Some Cultural Perspectives

Girishwar Misra

After a long association with cognition, psychology is now deeply and intensely engaged with affect and emotion. Emotionality may not be liked, but being emotionally competent is often considered a virtue. A moment's reflection makes it clear that our thoughts, actions and interactions are almost always coloured by the emotions which accompany them. Indeed, emotions are ubiquitous in our lives. Interestingly enough while ‘being emotional’ is intrinsic to human nature, at the same time humans have the capacity to reflect on and regulate their emotions. This implies that emotions vary not only across individuals and groups but also within the same person. As Ekman (2003, p. ...