Research conducted with people from various cultures, regions and communities, suggests that basic emotions such as amusement, anger, fear and sadness are shared by all humans.
Everybody shares the vast majority of their genetic makeup with each other, meaning that most of our physical characteristics are similar. We all share other attributes, too, such as having complex systems of communication to convey our thoughts, feelings and the intentions of those around us, and we are all able to express a wide range of emotions through language, sounds, facial expressions and posture. However, the way that we communicate is not always the same – for example, people from different cultures may not understand the same words and phrases or body language.
In an attempt to find out if certain emotions are universal, researchers led by Professor Sophie Scott from UCL (University College London) have studied whether the sounds associated with emotions such as happiness, anger, fear, sadness, disgust and surprise are shared amongst different cultures. This provides further evidence that such emotions form a set of basic, evolved functions that are shared by all humans.
During the study it was seen that irrespective of culture, economic status or region and religion, people seemed to find the basic emotions – anger, fear, disgust, amusement, sadness and surprise – the most easily recognisable. This suggests that these emotions – and their vocalisations – are similar across all human cultures.
This also supports previous research that showed that the facial expressions of these basic emotions are recognised across a wide range of cultures. Despite the considerable variation in human facial musculature, the facial muscles that are essential to produce the basic emotions are constant across individuals, suggesting that specific facial muscle structures have likely evolved to allow individuals to produce universally recognisable emotional expressions.
One positive sound that was particularly well recognised by all participants was that of laughter. People from varied cultures agreed that laughter signified amusement, exemplified as the feeling of being tickled. Tickling makes everyone laugh – and not just humans, say the researchers!
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