DIFFERENT WAYS OF FEELING: EMOTION AND SOMATIC AWARENESS IN GHANAIANS AND EUROAMERICANS

In an attempt to demonstrate the uniqueness of affective experiences in an African setting, trait differences in attention to emotion and somatic-focused awareness were explored in a two-study investigation using Ghanaian and Euro-American university student samples. Study 1 showed that Ghanaian participants paid more attention to their body and less to emotions than did American participants. Study 2 replicated the findings of Study 1. Together, the studies provide quantitative evidence for an aspect of the affective experience in an African setting previously documented qualitatively – a focus towards the internal body in emotion states, and highlight the role of psychologization in emotion differences across cultures.