Decoding Emotions
We like to think that all humans are born with the same core emotions: anger, fear, joy, sadness and disgust. But what if that's not true? This week, psychologist Batja Mesquita offers a different model of emotions — one that can help us to better understand our own feelings and those of the people around us.
- Duration
- 58m
- Broadcast on
- 12 Sep 2022
- Audio Format
- other
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We like to think that all humans are born with the same core emotions: anger, fear, joy, sadness and disgust. But what if that's not true? This week, psychologist Batja Mesquita offers a different model of emotions — one that can help us to better understand our own feelings and those of the people around us.
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This is Hidden Brain, I'm Shankar Vedanta. In the 2002 rom-com, my big fat Greek wedding, an American woman of Greek ancestry, falls in love with a very vanilla American man. Tula and Ian's different backgrounds become apparent on one of their very first dates. - What do you do for Christmas with your family? - My mom makes Roseland. - And? - And? - I'm Greek, right? So what happens is, my dad and my uncles, they fight over who gets to eat the lamb brain. And then my aunt Vula forks the eyeball and chases me around with it, trying to get me to eat it 'cause it's gonna make me smart. - Later, Ian invites his girlfriend over to meet his parents. - Rodney, didn't you once have a Greek receptionist? - No, Harriet, she was, just a minute. - Oh, no, no, she was Armenian. Is Armenia close to Greece? - Not exactly. - The scene plays out a little differently when Tula introduces Ian to her large and very loud extended family. - Yes, sorry, everyone, this is Ian. (audience cheering) - You guys just listen for sure. - Tula, Bamba, Bamba. - You know, I gotta tell ya, I've never seen my sister so happy. - If you hurt her, can you make it look like an accident? - Because this is Hollywood, Ian and Tula live happily ever after. In real life, navigating relationships of any sort across cultures can be a lot more complicated. - Nothing is as good to challenge your own idea that your feelings are natural as moving to another culture. (upbeat music) This week on Hidden Brain, how cultural differences are not just a product of different histories and different languages, but deep psychological divides in how we feel things. (upbeat music)
Transcription truncated.
We like to think that all humans are born with the same core emotions: anger, fear, joy, sadness and disgust. But what if that's not true? This week, psychologist Batja Mesquita offers a different model of emotions — one that can help us to better understand our own feelings and those of the people around us.