Pictorial Representation of Affective Responses to Personal Success and Failure: A Cross-cultural Investigation

Previous research on culture and affective experience has paid much attention to valence but little attention to arousal, or not distinguished them at all. To fill this gap in the literature, and minimize some of the biases and methodological confounds associated with self-reports, the present study used a novel methodology to examine Canadian and Chinese participants’ affective responses to their success and failure, in terms of valence and arousal, respectively. In two studies, participants were asked to draw a picture depicting their success in achieving (versus failure to achieve) an important goal in their lives. Two trained coders coded the arousal (high/low) and valence (positive/negative) of the affect portrayed in these drawings. We found that Canadian drawings were more likely than Chinese drawings to express high-arousal positive and high-arousal negative affect, whereas Chinese drawings were more likely than Canadian drawings to express low-arousal positive and low-arousal negative affect, in response to their success and failure, respectively. Further corroborating these results, an independent group of participants, who were unaware of the conditions and cultural origin of these drawings also rated the Canadian drawings of success as portraying more positive feelings, and Canadian drawings of failure as portraying more negative feelings, compared to Chinese drawings. These findings demonstrate cultural differences in individuals’ affective responses to emotional events, and highlight the importance of considering both valence and arousal dimensions of affect when examining the relationship between culture and affect.