FACTORS AFFECTING SUSCEPTIBILITY TO EMOTIONAL CONTAGION

AMONG SOUTH INDIAN HINDUS RESIDING IN INDIA

A THESIS SUBMITTED TO TIIE GRADUATE DIVISION OF

TIIE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI'I IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF

MASTER OF ARTS

IN

PSYCHOLOGY

MAY 2008

By
Aparajita Jeedigunta

Thesis Committee:

Elaine Hatfield, Chairperson

Debra Lieberman
Shuqiang Zhang
 ii

We certify that we have read this thesis and that, in our opinion, it is satisfactory in scope and

quality as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology.

THESIS COMMITTEE
 iii

Acknowledgements

I would sincerely like to thank all of my committee members for their helpful suggestions and

timely responses. I would especially like to thank my committee chairperson, Dr. Elaine

Hatfield, for her guidance and her patience with me throughout this project. Finally, I would like

to thank my parents for their unconditional support and all their sacrifices throughout this

process.
 iv

Abstract

Scholars have long been interested in the process of emotional contagion. It is said to aid in the

functions of facilitating social interaction, promoting interpersonal trust, and defining boundaries

for social transgressions such as indicating appropriate and inappropriate behaviors within

groups. Research on emotional contagion has examined the impact of various factors such as

gender, self-construal, and familial relationships, on Amricans' susceptibility to emotional

contagion. Unfortunately, scholars have spent little effort determining whether or not the process

of emotional contagion exists, or operates in the same way in cultures outside of America -

specifically South Asian cultures. They have not, for example, investigated how cultural traits -

such as individuals' self-construal - might affect susceptibility to emotional contagion in

traditional cultures such as India. This study examines the link between gender, family

composition, >urbanization, and self-construal and the susceptibility to emotional contagion

among Hindu college students residing in the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Specifically,

the study examines links between the aforementioned variables and the respondents' scores on

the Emotional Contagion (BC) scale, including the five subscales of the EC scale. Results

indicate that gender and self-construal are significantly associated with participants' scores on

the overall emotional contagion scale, and on some of its subsca1es. Limitations, implications,

and directions for future research are discussed.

•
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements ......................................................................................... .iii

Abstract .........................................................................................................iv
Table of Contents ..............................................................................................v
List of Figures and Tables ................................................................................... vii
Introduction.................................................................................................... 1
Emotional Contagion.................................................................................. 2
Research on Gender and Emotional Contagion...................................................... .4
Family and Emotional Contagion............................................................................5
Cross-Cultural Research on Emotional Contagion..................................................5
Self-COnstrua1......................................................................................................................6
Self-Construa1 and Emotional Contagion................................................................ 8
Introduction to India. .......................................................................................................................9
Family Dynamics of Indians.............................................................................................. 11
Purpose of Study............................................................................................................................ 14
Hypothesis One.................................................................................................................. 15
Hypothesis Two ................................................................................................................. 15
Research Question One...................................................................................................... 16
Hypothesis Three...............................................................................................................16
Hypothesis Four................................................................................................................. 16
Hypothesis Five................................................................................................................. 16
Research Question Two ..................................................................................................... 17
Method. .......................................................................................................................................... 18
Participants......................................................................................................................... 18
Measures............................................................................................................................ 18
Demographics ........................................................................................................ 18
Emotional Contagion Scale.................................................................................... 19
Self-Construa1 Scale............................................................................................... 20
Procedure............................................................................................................... 20
Statistical AnaJyses ............................................................................................................ 21
Results ............................................................................................................................................22
Emotional Contagion Scale................................................................................................ 22
Self-Construa1 Scale........................................................................................................... 24
Hypotheses Testing............................................................................................................25
Hypothesis One...................................................................................................... 27
Hypothesis Two ..................................................................................................... 28
Research Question One.......................................................................................... 29
Hypothesis Tbree................................................................................................... 29
Discussion......................................................................................................................................30
Lack of Measurement Invariance....................................................................................... 32
Differential Value of Measures ......................................................................................... .34
The Context of Testing Situation.......................................................................................35
Relative importance of Emotional Contagion in explaining variance ............................... 35
Context versus universality of human behavior................................................................. 36
 vi

Appendix A: Emotional Contagion Scale......................................................................................39

Appendix B: Self-Construal Scale................................................................................................ .41
Appendix C: Infonned Consent Fonn...........................................................................................44
References......................................................................................................................................46
 vii

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

FigurelI'able

I. Figure 1: Three stages of Emotional Contagion..........................................................3

2. Factor structure of EmotionaI Contagion sca1e..........................................................23

 1

Factors Affecting Susceptibility to Emotional Contagion Among South Indian

Hindus Residing in India

Introduction

Emotional contagion, people's tendency to "catch" others' emotional

states, has been a well-researched phenomenon (Doherty, 1994, 1999; Hatfield,

Cacioppo & Rapson, 1992, 1994; Larson & Almeida, 1999). On a superficial

level, emotional contagion may seem to be synonymous with empathy. However,

several researchers to date have made distinctions between emotional contagion

and empathy. Generally, empathy has been described as requiring three distinct

skills: the cognitive ability to understand the situation from another person's

perspective, the ability to feel what the other person is feeling, and the intention to

aid the person in distress (Decety & Jackson, 2004; Hatfield, Rapson & Le, in

press). From this description, it is apparent that while emotional contagion is a

subset of empathy and is required for empathy (Decety & Jackson, 2004), the two

processes are not synonymous.

According to scholars, emotional contagion serves a social function. It

appears to be a primitive form of communication, which facilitates social

interactions (Anderson, Keltner & John, 2003) and helps promote interpersonal

trust and reconciliations following social norm transgressions (Keltner, 1995). If

emotional contagion is indeed a facilitator of social interaction, one prediction

would be that in highly collectivistic societies, individuals would be especially

susceptible to emotional contagion due to the heavy emphasis on group harmony

 2

and social nonns. One way to study these inter-related concepts is by examining if

there is a difference in the susceptibility to emotional contagion among people

who construe themselves in tenns of others around them and among people who

construe themselves as being unique from others. Thus, examining the self-

construal of individuals in a highly collectivistic society such as India should

reveal whether the emphasis on group harmony and social norms has a significant

effect on their susceptibility to emotional contagion.

The purpose of this study was to select Western constructs such as

emotional contagion and self construal, and examine whether these constructs

reveal consistent effects in the Indian culture, and also to examine the effects of

gender, family composition, urbanization and self-construal on the

multidimensional and uni-dimensional construct of emotional contagion.

Research on gender, family, and culture, in the context of emotional contagion,

research on self-construal and research conducted in India on Indian populations

will be examined before the research questions and hypotheses are stated and

results are discussed.

Emotional Contagion

Hatfield, Cacioppo, and Rapson (1994) define emotional contagion as "the

tendency to automatically mimic and synchronize expressions, vocalizations,

postures, and movements with those of another person's, and, consequently to

converge emotionally" (p. 5). This definition involves three stages of contagion.
 3

Figure 1. Three stages of emotional contagion

Mimicry ~~I ____Fe_ed_b_~

k__~~--~~~I
__ ___ __·o_n__~
C_o_n_mw

Hatfield, C~ioppo, and Rapson theorized that during the first phase of emotional

contagion, a person mimics the non-verbal behaviors of another person. This

mimicry creates a feedb~k process which can lead a person to approximate what

the other is feeling. This feedb~k ultimately leads to emotional contagion where

one person catches the emotions of another and feels what the other is feeling.

Researchers have found evidence that differences in individuals' responses

to the behaviors of others and the context in which the behavior occurs are both

reliable cues to how snsceptible to contagion that individual will be (Laird et al .•

1994). Laird and colleagues studied mimicry and feedb~k and their relation to

snsceptibility, and found that individuals whose experiences were influenced by

self-produced cues tended to mimic others' cues and were more susceptible to

emotional contagion than were their peers (cited in Anderson, Keltner & John,

2003). However, Laird's research does not provide support for the five conditions

theorized by Hatfield, ~ioppo and Rapson (1994); there is currently little

evidence to conclusively support some of the five conditions described in the next

section. Research by Doherty (1993) also provides evidence to support the

validity of the Emotional Contagion scale as an ~curate measure of the three

stages of contagion with correlations to the three stages between 0.25 and 0.30, p
 4

< 0.05.

According to the theory put forth by Hatfield. Cacioppo and Rapson

(1994), the susceptibility to emotional contagion may be higher for: (1) those

whose attention is directed on others rather than on self, (2) those who possess

interdependent self-construals rather than independent self-construals, (3) those

who are aware of others' gestures and postures, (4) those who tend to mimic

others' gestures and postures, and. (5) those who are more emotionally responsive

or reactive (p. 148). Thus, according to this theory, people who perceive

themselves in light of others rather than in a unique, solitary fashion are more

likely to be more susceptible to emotional contagion.

The susceptibility to emotional contagion is measured by the Emotional

Contagion scale (Doherty, 1997; See Appendix A). This measure consists of 15

items which assess susceptibility on five different factors: Love, Anger,

Happiness, Fear and Sadness. Overall interna1 consistency for the scale has been

found to be high (Cronbach's alpha = 0.90). Within the subsca1es, the interna1

consistency for the positive emotion factors subscales was satisfactory

(Cronbach's alpha = 0.80) and the internal consistency for the negative emotion

factors subscales was also satisfactory (Cronbach's alpha = 0.82). Test-retest

reliability scores demonstrated reasonably high reliability (Cronbach's alpha =

0.84).

Research on Gender and Emotional Contagion

Based on the original theoretical model proposed by Hatfield. Cacioppo,

 5

and Rapson (1994), consistent gender effects have been reported in research on

emotional contagion. Women in general, seem to be more susceptible to

emotional contagion than are men. More specifically, women tend to score higher

on the emotional contagion scale subscales oflove, sadness, joy and also in their

general sensitivity. Men score higher on the anger sub scale. Researchers also

found that male and female physicians were equally susceptible to the fear of

their patients (Doherty, Orimoto, Singelis, Hatfield & Hebb, 1995).

Family and Emotional Contagion

Studies of emotional contagion among families in the United States also

has some evidence revealing trends of higher susceptibility to emotional

contagion among family members. Research has found that similarity of affect

among family members may be partly attributed to emotional contagion,

particularly between daughters and both parents, and from fathers to sons (Larson

& Richards, 1994). However, this study showed no significant effects between

mothers and sons. White's (1999) study of emotional contagion among mothers,

fathers, and young children found that parents' affect was related significantly to

marital quality and children's affect for mothers and fathers was related to their

feelings toward the parent of the opposite sex. Furthermore, individuals'

depressed mood was found to be related to their romantic partners feeling less

positive and more negative about their relationship (Goodman & Shippy, 2002;

Hatfield, Cacioppo & Rapson, 1994; Thompson & Bolger, 1999).

Cross-Cultural Research on Emotional Contagion

 6

Cross-cultural research that has been conducted on non-Indian cultures on

the susceptibility of emotional contagion has revealed inconclusive evidence for

factors which affect a person's susceptibility to emotional contagion. Several

researchers studying cases of epidemic hysteria in Montana Hills, Malaysia, East

Africa, and Singapore concluded that emotional contagion was the cause of mass

hysteria epidemics (Hatfield, Cacioppo & Rapson, 1994). These cases were not

psychological studies however, and they were examined after the outbreak of

hysteria No alternative explanations were offered for the contagion of hysteria

among these populations. Other cross-cultural studies have tried to test the

validity of the Emotional Contagion Scale (Doherty 1997) in various cultures. A

study by Lunidqvist (2006) validated the use of the Emotional Contagion Scale in

Swedish populations. Research on emotional contagion, has not been conducted

extensively in Asian cultures, specifically India, however. With a population of

over a billion and growing, and with increasing rates of migration, psychological

research on Indian populations has long lasting social and clinical implications

(KaJlampally, 2005). Therefore this study examines factors affecting the

susceptibility to emotional contagion among South Indian Hindu college students.

One of the conditions that Hatfield, Cacioppo and Rapson proposed is that

an interdependent self-construal is supposed to increase a person's susceptibility

to emotional contagion. We will now review the construct of self-construal and

describe any evidence linking emotional contagion to self-construal.

Self-Construal
 7

As previously mentioned, Hatfield, Cacioppo and Rapson (1994) theorized

that individuals with interdependent self-construals would be more susceptible to

emotional contagion than would be individuals with independent self-construals.

Currently there is some evidence to support this hypothesis. Markus and

Kitayama (1991) have posited that an individual with an independent self-

construal would value independence and uniqueness, and would strive to exclude

others from self, and an individual with an interdependent self-construal would

value conformity and group harmony, and would strive to assimilate others to self

(van Baaren, Maddux, Chartrand, de Bouter & van Knippenburg, 2003). Singelis

and Brown (1995) proposed that no individual is uniquely independent or

interdependent; independent and interdependent self-construals can co-exist in

individuals to varying degrees. This assertion contradicts previous theories that

the two constructs are mutually exclusive to each other. They also argued that

self-construal may playa major role in understanding culture's influence on

behavior (SingeIis & Brown, 1995).

A person's self-construal is measured by the Self-Construal scale,

developed by Singelis (1995). This measure is used to assess independent and

interdependent self-construals. The self-construal scale contains 30 item Likert-

type scale with end-points 1 = Strongly Disagree and 5 = Strongly Agree. It

measures both the independent and the interdependent self-construals in two 15-

item subscales through different factors such as group identification, harmony and

loyalty. The scale is used to calculate two scores for each participant, one
 8

independent self-construal score and one interdependent self-construal score. The

self-construal scale has demonstrated satisfactory reliability and validity for both

the independent (Cronbach's alpha = 0.69) and interdependent (Cronbach's alpha

= 0.70) sub-scales. (Singelis, 1994).

Self-Construal and Emotional Contagion

Using the constructs developed by Markus and Kitayama (1991), Singelis

(1995) found evidence that within the United States, people who are more

interdependent were more susceptible to emotional contagion. However, Singelis

found no significant relationships between independence and emotional

contagion. Research on mimicry within the United States has also found that

individuals with interdependent self-construals exhibited higher levels of facial

mimicry than individuals with independent self-construals (van Baaren, Maddux,

Chartrand, de Bouter & van Knippenburg, 2003). Independent and interdependent

self-construa1s have also been studied in Indian populations (Matsumoto, 1999).

Research has found that Americans perceived themselves as more dissimilar to

each other and Indian participants perceived themselves as more similar to each

other than did their American members (Markus & Kitayama, 1991; Matsumoto,

1999). However, as Matsumoto (1999) points out, there is a problem in assuming

that differences can be attributed to differences in self-construal. It could be the

case that the Indian participants identified with each other to a greater degree

merely because of their immigrant status. It could also be the case that while the

Americans perceived themselves as dissimilar to other Americans, the Indian

 9

population tested was already a pre-existing subset brought together by the

identifying variable of being "Indian". Research to date has not tested a direct

link between self-construal and susceptibility to emotional contagion in Indian

populations residing in India.

To understand the collectivistic nature of the Indian culture, it is essential

to understand some of its history which has led to the current patterns of

development and change within the society. Thus, a very brief history of post-

independence India will now be described. Once the major events of modem

Indian history have been highlighted, the importance of a family in the Indian

culture will be detailed and its significance to current research will be discussed.

Introduction to India

India is a federal democracy made up of28 states, (all of which vary in

size, population, and, natural resources), and seven union territories. Throughout

the 1970s, under the leadership of the Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi, several

radical socialist policies were undertaken leading to a state of corruption, a

declaration of state of emergency and ultimately an election which removed Mrs.

Gandhi from her position. She returoed to power in 1980 with a more liberalized

policy. However, the 19808 was still a period of political unrest with little growth

in the GDP. The balance-of-payments crisis that put India's debt at over one

billion U.S. dollars was a turning point for Indian economic policy. In the 1990s

under pressure from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank the

economy was opened up to foreign trade stabilizing the Indian GDP at around
 10

seven percent.

The 1990s also saw the rise of India's information technology (IT)

industry, telecommunications industry and satellite television, all of which have

grown to be among the biggest globalizing influences on the Indian population.

Development in these sectors have led to the creation of new employment

opportunities for Indians, have led to the emergence of a new Consumer middle-

class, and have rapidly aided in urbanizing and transforming several small towns

into major metropolitan cities, drastically affecting the culture and lifestyle of

these areas.

Today, about 75 percent of urban families have access to local television

and 50 percent have access to satellite television; about 30 percent of rural

families have access to local television and about 10 percent have access to

satellite television. These numbers gain significance when one considers that

about 70 percent of the Indian population still lives in rural areas with limited

resources.

The new consumer middle-class that has been created has been largely due

to the upward mobility of the poorer classes. The disadvantage of the

development oflT and India's increasing ties to the West is the rapidly growing

disparities in the already uneven distribution of wealth between the urban and the

rural in terms of the resources, culture, and lifestyle; the rich are getting richer,

and while the poor may be getting richer, it is at a much slower pace. Rural

inhabitants with resources and opportunities are increasingly migrating to urban

 11

areas to gain access to higher wages, better opportunities, bright lights, and the

freedom of the city lifestyle. Those who are unable to move to urban areas are

moving close by creating transitional towns which are neither urban nor rural in

nature.

This type of uneven development raises important questions about the

future of India. What are the psychological implications of the culture and

lifestyle changes occurring at various levels of urbanization? Will the transition

from a traditional rural lifestyle to the lifestyle of the city fundamentally change

the culture, lifestyle, behaviors and traditions of the people involved? These

questions have not been scientifically examined yet. With the current trends of

globalization, and, especially with India's growing ties with the rest of the world,

the social, political and economic implications of studying India become apparent

as it becomes increasingly important to gain an understanding of different

segments of the Indian society (Henderson, 2002; Patel, 2004).

Family Dynamics ofIndians

Thus far, research on Indians has focused on familial relationships and has

been largely sociological or anthropological. Most Indians grow up in extended

families, with members of the family ensuring that the group functions as a

cohesive and cooperating unit (Nath & Craig, 1999). This notion of a "joint"

family involves the idea that even ifmembers ofa family don't reside in the same

location, they are still considered a household if they are functionally, ritually and

emotionally joined (Desai, 1964; Henderson, 2002). There also seems to be a

 12

clearly defined hierarchy according to age and sex, with older individuals and

men being higher on the hierarchy than younger individuals or women. Women

are the primary socializing agent in the family. Men are usually aloof (Henderson,

2002; Patel, 2004). Generally, within the joint family system, it is common to

have parents living with married sons, their wives, and children and any

unmarried children. Ifmarried sons do establish their own household and move

away from their parents, usually, at least one son and his family continue to live

with the parents (patel, 2004).

A review of the literature reveals two distinct kinship models in India,

each model localized to either Northem India or Southern India (Dyson & Moore,

1983). It is important for us to note here that this study is not based on the two

kinship models described by Dyson and Moore (1983). These models are being

presented merely to question their validity in present day Indian society. These

models are excellent examples of the need for more updated scientific research in

the Indian culture. We argue that because of the increasing trend of mobility

towards urban areas, it may be more illuminating to examine Indian society in

terms of differences in its urbanization rather than a North and South Indian

dichotomy.

The Northern Indian family and kinship model as described by Dyson and

Moore (1983) has three characteristics which make it unique from the Southem

Indian model. In the Northem Indian kinship model, the spouses are usually

unrelated in kinship and are usually from a different place ofbirtb or residence.
 13

Therefore, marriages are exogamous. Furthermore, North Indian marriages are

also usually arranged for the purpose of inter-group alliances to improve the male

family's and the female family's status in society. As a consequence of this, most

Northern Indian women usually have very limited freedom of choice in choosing

their mates, or rejecting the ones chosen for them. Because the bride is moving to

a new location into the groom's household with no previous relationships

established, the marriage is usually a major rearrangement of the bride's social

position within the new family. As a consequence, at marriage there may be

rearrangements in other social positions and relationships within the family.

Therefore, the bride is generally considered a threat to the family dynamics. The

bride consequently has difficulty establishing affective ties with members of her

husband's household. Because the bride is brought up by her parents with the

knowledge that she is someone else's property and that the parents are just

trustees, affective ties between natal kin are also minimally established.

Within South Indian kinship systems, the family dynamics are

significantly different. First, the marriages are usually endogamous. The ideal

marriage is between cross-cousins. Due to this, women are likely to be married to

known persons, in familiar households, near to their natal home. This allows for

the female to have more freedom of choice compared to the North Indian bride.

Because women are married to known individuals who usually reside close to the

bride's natal family, women in South Indian farniIies interact with both their natal

kin and their husband's kin on a regular basis, both before and after marriage. The
 14

marriage is not considered a m~or rearrangement of the bride's social position as

the bride would already have established affective ties with her natal kin and her

husband's kin.

This information suggests that family patterns and dynamics of North and

South India have been distinctive and stable over time. However, this may not be

entirely accurate as the family patterns may be shifting as a consequence of time

and increased mobility due to improved technology, job opportunities and general

globalization processes. There has been no recent research to examine the stability

of the trends that Dyson and Moore (1983) found.

Therefore, it may be more accurate to study regional differences within

Northern and within Southern India using features such as the urbanization

characteristics of different places, rather than to generalize patterns across regions

as a whole. While India, as a whole, may generally be a relatively collectivist

nation, within that broad paradigm, self-construa1 as a function offamily

dynamics has never been explored. Furthermore, within South Indian family

systems, the relationship between self-construa1 and various psychological

processes such as emotional contagion have not been explored to date.

Purpose ofStudy

This study examines factors affecting emotional contagion among South

Indian Hindus based on family density, geographic location, self-construal, and

other demographic variables. One purpose of this study is to use Western

constructs such as self-construa1 and emotional contagion and examine whether

 15

we secure the same pattern of relationships in Indian and Western cultures. A

second purpose of this study is to examine the effects of gender, family

composition, urbanization and self-construaI on a multidimensional and uni-

dimensional construct of emotional contagion by using the overall Emotional

Contagion scale and its subscaIes in analyses. Research in this area has far

reaching implications. In addition to adding to the general body of knowledge

about emotional contagion and potentially providing evidence of a direct

association between individnals' self-construaI and their susceptibility to

emotional contagion, this research also has the potential of aiding clinicians

practicing in the newly established Family Therapy program in India. The purpose

of this study is to answer the following questions and test the following

hypotheses:

Hypothesis One: In general, Indian women will report greater

susceptibility to emotional contagion than will Indian men. Specifically, women

will score higher on the emotional contagion scale than will men.

As we discussed earlier, women are the primary agents of socialization in

an Indian family. If this is indeed true, and women are supposed to be especially

sensitive to emotional contagion, then it seems reasonable to propose that a group

of women with a child in their care would have a greater influence on the child

than would a single socialization agent.

Hypothesis Two: Participants in families with a higher percentage

of women will report greater susceptibility to emotional contagion than will

 16

participants in families with a lower percentage of women. Specifically,

participants in families with a higher percentage of women will score higher on

the emotional contagion scale as compared to participants in families with a lower

percentage of women.

Question One: Does the percentage of women in the family have a

greater impact on participants of one gender than the other?

There is no previous research to allow for the formulation of a directional

hypothesis to test this question. This question is being posed for exploratory

purposes.

How does participants' geographical location influence their susceptibility

to emotional contagion? We propose the following:

Hypothesis Three: In general, participants in urban locations will

report lower susceptibility to emotional contagion than will their rural peers.

Specifically, participants who live in urban locations will score lower on the

Emotional Contagion scale than will be those from rural areas.

How does the participants' self-construal affect their susceptibility to

emotional contagion? To answer this question, the following hypotheses will be

tested:

Hypothesis Four: In general, participants who construe themselves

as more independent will report less susceptibility to emotional contagion than

participants who construe themselves as more interdependent.

Hypothesis Five: In general, participants who construe themselves

 17

as more interdependent will report greater susceptibility to emotional contagion

than participants who construe themselves as independent.

Question Two: Do geographic location and self-construal interact

in shaping susceptibility to Emotional Contagion. The kinship models described

by Dyson and Moore (1983) identify two very distinct systems based on a

person's geographica1location. The first system was the North Indian kinship

model which was characterized by exogamous marriages with limited freedom of

choice for the bride and a rearrangement of the bride's social relationships and

interactions after marriage. The second system was the South Indian kinship

model which was characterized by endogamous cross-cousin marriages, a greater

freedom of choice for the bride and minimal rearrangement of the bride's social

relationships and interactions after marriage. Earlier, we also discussed the trend

of increased mobility through out India. If geographic locations are an important

factor in the social and emotional interactions of a person, it seems reasonable to

propose that individuals' self-construals will interact with the geographic locations

they live in, shaping their susceptibility to emotional contagion. Currently there is

no research to support a directional hypothesis. This question is being posed for

exploratory purposes.

Thus far, research on Indian families has been limited to Hindus, who

comprise anywhere between 70 to 85 percent of the population in India (patel,

2004). It is unknown whether models of family systems of Indians from other

religions differ due to religious history, customs and tradition. Thus, in this study
 18

we propose to analyze data for the Hindu sample only. Data from individuals of

other religions will be collected, and the data will be analyzed separately in future

research.

Method

Participants

Approximately 700 Asian Indian adults (over the age of 18) who

currently reside in India were recruited by random sampling from various colleges

and universities from the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Due to missing

data and incomplete questionnaires, several cases were dropped from the analysis,

resulting in 478 participants. Of the 478 participants, 79 were excluded from the

final analysis because they reported their religious affiliation to be non-Hindu,

resulting in a sample of399 participants. Once the 399 Hindu participants were

isolated from the data set, participants with missing information in any part of the

data including the demographics, and any measures were excluded resulting in

325 participants whose information was used in the final analysis. All participants

were between the ages of 18 and 21, therefore their ages were not recorded.

Measures

Demographics

Participants were asked to report their personal demographic information

such as gender, religious affiliation. the nmnber of people in their family, and the

nmnber of women in their family. Data on religious affiliation was collected for

exclusion purposes. The analysis of data for the purposes of this study was
 19

conducted only on those participants who identified themselves as Hindu. This

was done in order to ensure a more homogeneous sample for the purposes of data

analysis. Therefore participants who identified themselves as non-Hindu were

excluded from the current study. However, these data will be subject to separate

analysis at a later time. Of the 325 participants, 40.0 percent (n = 130) were

female and 60.0 percent (n = 195) were male; 46.2 percent (n = 150) of the

participants lived in urban areas and 53.9 percent (n = 175) lived in non-urban

areas.

Emotional Contagion

Participants were then asked to complete the Emotional Contagion Scale

(Doherty, 1997) to assess individuals' susceptibility to emotional contagion (See

Appendix A), with higher scores reflecting greater susceptibility to emotional

contagion. The Emotional Contagion scale contains 15 items which assess

susceptibility on five different factors: Love, Anger, Happiness, Fear and Sadness.

Overall internal consistency for the scale has been found to be high (Cronbach's

alpha = 0.90). Within the subscaIes, the internal consistency for the positive

emotion factors subscaIes was satisfactory (Cronbach's alpha =0.80) and the

internal consistency for the negative emotion factors subscaIes was also

satisfactory (Cronbach's alpha= 0.82). Test-retest reliability scores demonstrated

reasonably high reliability (Cronbach's alpha =0.84). Research by Doherty (1993)

provides evidence to support the validity of the Emotional Contagion scale as an

accurate measure of the three stages of contagion with correlations to the three
 20

stages between 0.25 and 0.30, p < 0.05. For the current study, the overall internal

consistency of the Emotional contagion scale was found to be somewhat

satisfactory (Cronbach's alpha = 0.68) with the internal consistency of the

subscales ranging from 0.52 to 0.59.

Self-Construal

Participants were also asked to complete the Singelis Self-Construal Scale

(Singelis, 1994; See Appendix B) to assess independent and interdependent self-

constrnals. The self-construal scale contains 30 item Likert-type scale with end-

points 1 = Strongly Disagree and 5 = Strongly Agree. It measures both the

independent and the interdependent self-construals in two IS-item subscales

through different factors such as group identification, harmony and loyalty. The

scale is used to calculate two scores for each participant, one independent self-

constrnal score and one interdependent self-construal score. The self-constrnal

scale has demonstrated satisfactory reliability and validity for both the

independent (Cronbach's alpha = 0.69) and interdependent (Cronbach's alpha =

0.70) sub-scales. (Singelis, 1994). For the current study the internal consistency

was found to be somewhat satisfactory for both the independent (Cronbach's

alpha = 0.62) and interdependent (Cronbach's alpha = 0.58) subscales.

Procedure

Participants were administered the questionnaires in a classroom setting at

the various colleges and Universities in India Participants first received an

informed consent form which they were asked to read and retain for their records
 21

after which they were asked to complete the questionnaires. The informed consent

form and all questionnaires were available to the participants in English, and

Telugu - the state language. At the completion of the questionnaires, participants

were orally debriefed and were asked to contact the researcher in case of

questions.

Statistical Analyses

First a principal component analysis was conducted on the emotional

contagion scale. The analysis was to examine whether the factor loadings are

similar for Western and non-Western samples, and ensured construct validity of

the scale in the Indian population. Table 6 (p. 23) reports the factor structure and

inter-factor correlations for the Emotional Contagion Scale for this sample. A

principal component analysis was also conducted on the self-construal scale. The

analysis was to ensure construct validity for the self-construal scale. Table 8 (p.

30) reports the factor structure and the inter-factor correlations for the Self-

Construal Scale for this sample. A correlational analysis of all predictors was also

conducted to check for multicollinearity between predictors.

Once the results of the factor analysis and the correlational analysis were

revealed, the variables gender, urbaniVltion, percentage of women in the family,

independence and interdependence and all possible interaction effects were

regressed onto the overall emotional contagion scale and its subscales. The

variables percentage of women in the family, independence, and interdependence

were continuous variables. The variable urbaniVltion had two levels - urban and
 22

non-urban.

Based on the results of the overall regression model, post-hoc analyses

were conducted on any significant effects in the regression model. This was done

in order to conduct hypothesis testing, and also in order to enable us to interpret

the significant results.

Results

The first step was to attempt to determine if two of the major measures

used - the Emotional Contagion scale and the Self-Construal scale - possessed

the same factor structure in the Indian sample as these scales were found to

possess in American samples. In order to find out, we first conducted a Principal

Components Analysis on the Emotional Contagion scale.

Emotional Contagion Scale:

Principal Components Analysis on the Emotional Contagion Scale with Promax

rotation revealed factor loadings inconsistent from the factor analysis conducted

on the Emotional Contagion scale in the original study (Table I, original data not

shown).
 23

Table I

Factor Structure Correlations for the Emotional Contagion Scale.

Factor! Factor2 Faetor3 Factor4 FactorS

If someone I'm talking with begins to 0.56

Cry,I I!:et tearY-eyed.
Being with a happy person picks me up 0.42 0.52
when I'm feeling down.

When someone smiles warmly at me, I 0.59

smile back and feel warm inside.
I get filled with sorrow when people talk 0.55
about the death of their loved ones.
I clench my jaws and my shoulders get 0.54
tight when I see the angry faces on the
news.
When I look into the eyes of the one I 0.76
love, my mind is filled with thoughts of
romance.
It irritates me to be around angry people. 0.73

Watching the fearful faces of victims on 0.77

the news makes me try to imagine how
they might be feeling.
I melt when the one I love holds me 0.75
close.
I tense when overhearing an angry 0.62
IQuarrel.
Being around happy people fills my 0.73
mind with hannv tho~ghts.
I sense my body responding when the 0.72
one I love touches me.
I notice myself getting tense when I'm 0.47
around neeDle who are stressed out.
I cry at sad movies. 0.67

Listening to the shrill screams of a 0.68

terrified child in a dentist's waiting room
makes me feel nervous.
.
Note. All factor correlations under 0.40 have been deleted for clanty.
.
 24

While the results of the factor analysis accounted for 53.08 percent of the

variance in the sample for the overall emotional contagion scale, the factor

structure for four of the five individual factors was different from that reported in

the original study (Doherty, 1997). The love subscale did have a factor structure

that was consistent with the original data. Thus, all subsequent analyses were

conducted on the overall emotional contagion scale and the love subscale. The

other four subscales - happiness, anger, sadness and fear - were dropped from

subsequent analyses.

This analysis also revealed that internal consistency for·the overall scale

was satisfactory with Cronbach's alpha = 0.68 and internal consistency for the

love subscale was also slightly satisfactory with Cronbach's alpha = 0.60.

The next step was to attempt to determine if the Singelis' measure of Self-

Construal possessed the same factor structure in the Indian sample as the scale

was found to possess in American samples. In order to find out, we conducted a

Principal Components Analysis on the Self-Construal scale.

Self Constrnal Scale:

Principal Components Analysis on the Self-Construal Scale using Promax

Rotation revealed a factor structure that was drastically different from the original

factor structure as purported by Singelis (1994). Results revealed II factors with

eigenvalues greater than one, with one factor with an eigenvalue greater than

three and two factors with eigenvalues greater than two. Due to the inconsistency

of the results, the Self-Construal Scale and all hypotheses and questions relating
 25

to it were dropped from subsequent analyses.

Once the factor analysis results were revealed, the predictors were then

correlated with each other to check for multicollinearity. Results revealed that that

gender was strongly negatively correlated to the percentage of women in the

family and the urbanization variables. Within this sample, men were more likely

to be in families with a lower percentage of women (r = -0.60, p<O.OOOI) and men

were also more likely to live in urban areas (r = -0.25, p<0.0001). Furthermore,

the percentage of women in the family variable was weakly positively correlated

with the urbanization variable. Within this sample, participants living in more

non-urban areas were more likely to have a higher percentage of women in their

families (r = 0.11, P = 0.04).

Hypotheses Testing

Therefore results revealed a satisfactory overall Emotional contagion scale

that did not have the same factor structure for the Indian sample as it does for

American samples. Results also revealed an unsatisfactory factor structure for the

Self-Construal scale and its two subsca1es which resulted in the measure being

dropped from further analyses. Once the factor structures were examined, the

Emotional Contagion scale and the love subscale were used to test the hypotheses

previously proposed. In order to test the hypotheses, the regression analysis model

used was as follows:

Emotional Contagion = a + b (Gender) + ~ (Urbanization) + b3

I

(percentage of women in the family) + b4 (Gender*Urbanization) + bs (Gender >I<

 26

Percentage of women in the family) + b6 (Urbanization'" Percentage of women in

the family) + b7 (Gender"'Urbanization*Percentage of women in the family). (1)

Love = a + b (Gender) + ~ (Urbanization) + b3 (percentage of women in

I

the family) + b4 (Gender*Urbanization) + bs (Gender '" Percentage of women in

the family) + b6 (Urbani7J!tion * Percentage of women in the family) + b7

(Gender*Urban i7J!tion"'Percentage of women in the family). (2)

Once the overall regression models were run, each non-significant interaction was

systematically dropped from the regression model to form a more parsimonious

model for both the overall emotional contagion scale and the love subscale. The

effect size of the results was weak as the overall regression model explained only
2
2.9 percent of the variance (R = O. 029) for the overall emotional contagion scale

and 6.3 percent of the variance (R2 = 0.063) for the love subscale.

Results revealed that none of the two-way interactions or the three-way

interaction between gender, urbani7J!tion, and percentage of women in the family

had any significant effects on the overall model with the overall Emotional

Contagion scale. As a result, the non-significant variables were dropped from the

model to form a more parsimonious model:

Emotional Contagion = a + hI (Gender). (3)

Love = a + bI (Gender). (4)

While the model accounts for a lower percentage of the overall variance for the

overall emotional contagion scale (R2 = 0.016) and the love subscale (R2 =
 27

0.039), the parsimonious model was found to be much stronger in significance.

The resulting model with beta-weights was as follows:

Emotional Contagion = 43.88 -1.53 (Gender), (t = -2.28, P = 0.02) (5)

Love = 8.78 + 0.89 (Gender), (t = 3.59, P = 0.0004) (6)

Results from the parsimonious regression model indicated that gender, is the only

variable in this study which has a significant effect on a person's susceptibility to

emotional contagion. Based on these results, after dropping self-construa1 from

the design, post-hoc analyses were run for the significant main effect of gender.

Hypothesis One

Hypothesis one proposed that in general, Indian women will report greater

susceptibility to emotional contagion than will Indian men. Specifically, Indian

women will score higher on the Emotional Contagion scale as compared to Indian

men.

The results of the parsimonious regression model revealed that women

tended to be more susceptible to emotional contagion than are men. Post-hoc

analysis of the gender variable revealed that women tended to score an average of

1.53 points higher on the Emotional Contagion scale; women scored at the least

0.21 points and at the most 2.85 points higher than men on the overall Emotional

Contagion scale.

The results of the parsimonious model also revealed that men scored

higher on the love subscale than women. Post-hoc analysis on love subscale

revealed that on average men scored higher than women by 0.89 points on the
 28

love subscale. Men tended to score at least 0.40 points and at most 1.37 points

higher than women on the love subscale.

In summary, hypothesis one stated that women will score higher on the

Emotional Contagion scale as compared to men. When we looked at the results

we found that hypothesis one had been supported by the evidence presented here,

for the overall Emotional Contagion scale. Indian women in this sample did score

higher on the Emotional Contagion scale as compared to men. However, when we

looked at the love subscale of the Emotional Contagion scale, we found that the

evidence did not completely support previous research. As mentioned before,

previous research in the West found evidence to support that women score higher

on the love subscale. Our results indicated that in the Indian sample, men scored

higher than women on the love subscale, contradicting previous research.

Hypothesis Two

Hypothesis two stated that participants in families with a higher

percentage of women will report greater susceptibility to emotional contagion

than will participants in families with a lower percentage of women. Specifically,

participants in families with a higher percentage of women will score higher on

the Emotional Contagion scale as compared to participants in families with a

lower percentage of women. The percentage of women in the family did not have

a significant effect on the overall Emotional Contagion scale or the love subscale

in the overall regression model. Therefore this variable was dropped from

subsequent analyses.
 29

In conclusion, our results indicated that the percentage of women in the

family does not have a significant effect on the susceptibility to emotional

contagion.

Research Question One

Research Question one was designed to explore the possible interaction

between gender and the percentage of females in the family on the dependent

variables. In research question one, we asked whether the percentage of women in

the family influences participants of one gender more than the other. The

interaction effect of gender and percentage of females in the family did not have a

significant effect on the overall emotional contagion scale or the love subscale.

Therefore this interaction variable was dropped from all subsequent analyses.

In conclusion, our results indicated that the interaction of gender and the

percentage of women in the family did not have a significant effect on the

susceptibility to emotional contagion.

Hypothesis Three

Hypothesis Three stated that in general, participants in urban locations

will report lower susceptibility to emotional contagion than will their rural peers.

Specifically, participants who live in urban locations will score lower on the

Emotional Contagion scale than participants who live in rural areas. Hypothesis

three concerned the effect of urbanization on the dependent variables. The

urbanization variable did not have a significant effect on the dependent variables

in the overall regression model, and hence it was dropped from all subsequent
 30

analyses.

In conclusion, our results indicated that there was no evidence to support

the hypothesis that the geographical location of the participants has a significant

effect on their susceptibility to emotional contagion.

Hypotheses four and five and research question were related to the Self-

Construal scale. Since the factor analysis of the Self-Construal scale was

inconsistent, the two hypotheses and the research question were dropped from the

design and no analyses pertaining to this measure were conducted.

Discussion

Cross-cultural theorists have long insisted on the importance of cross-

cultural research. As countries become increasingly diverse and international

contacts become common due to increased networking in economical, political

and emotional reaIms, psychologists can no longer assume an acultural or a

uniculturai stance (Segall, Louner & Berry, 1998). After the emergence of cross-

cultural psychology as a field, Berry and Dasen (1974) identified three crucial

goals that they hoped cross-cultural psychology would accomplish: (1) to test our

current psychological knowledge and perspective in other cultures; (2) to discover

new aspects of the constructs being studied in terms of meaningful local cultural

terms and (3) to use the first two goals to integrate findings into a more universal

psychology. (Segall et al., 1998) In this study, we have attempted to do just that,

and in part, our findings (or lack thereof) are a testament to the validity of their

plea and critique. In this study, we questioned men and women from the state of
 31

Andhra Pradesh in India about their susceptibility to Emotional Contagion and

their self-construals. Our results suggest that the gender of a person had

significant effects on the overall emotional contagion scale and its pre-validated

love subscale. Results also revealed that the percentage of women in the family

and the geographical location of the participants did not have a significant effect

on either the overall emotional contagion scale or the love subscale.

One interesting finding in this study that has not been seen before in

research is the significant association between gender and the percentage of

women in the family, and the geographical location. Our results indicate that men

are more likely to be in families with a significantly lower percentage of women

and they are also more likely to be in more urban locations. One reason for the

association between gender and urbanization could be that young men in rural

families may be moving to cities for better opportunities in education and work,

while leaving their families behind in more non-urban locations. Currently, we

have no hypotheses explaining the possible association between gender and the

percentage of women in the family. While it is true that for the men in the sample,

their gender automatically lowers the percentage of women in the family, it may

not be enough to explain the significant association between the two variables.

Furthermore, a significant association was also found between urbanization and

the percentage of women in the family. Our results indicate that participants from

more non-urban areas have a higher percentage of women in the family. This

could be due to the fact that families in more rura1 areas generally tend to be
 32

larger. However, our results indicate that there was no significant association

between overall family size and the percentage of women in the family.

Therefore, this leads us to believe that this association, and the associations

between gender, urbanization and percentage of women in the family warrant

further study.

The inconsistency of the self-construal scale posed a problem in this study

that could not be overcome. It would be interesting to explore the factor structure

of the Self-Construal scale to examine how the factor structure is different from

American samples, and if there are any notable trends and patterns that may have

contributed to a unique factor structure.

In conducting this research, we have made several discoveries. First, we

found that the commonly accepted psychometric measures may not be acceptable

in all cultures at all times. Second, we found that in different cultures, self-report,

physiological, and behavioral measures may be of differential value. Finally, we

found that the context in which different measures are administered may be of

crucial value.

Lack ofMeasurement Invariance

The first issue concerns the lack of measurement invariance (Steenkamp

& Baumgartner, 1998). Measurement invariance can be defined as ''whether or

not, under different conditions of observing and studying phenomena,

measurement operations yield measures of the same attribute" (Hom & McArdle,

1992, p. 117). Once a factor analysis was conducted on the Emotional Contagion
 33

scale and the Self-Construa1 scale it became apparent that the two measures did

not possess this trait. Measurement invariance or measurement equivalence is a

concept that has recently started gaining importance among researchers, as they

felt the need to address circumstances which may threaten the quality of

psychometric tools. but which cannot be resolved using classical approaches such

as calculations or simple estimations (Vandenberg, 2002). Vandenberg (2002)

describes the circumstances which require the need for measurement invariance.

One of the main circumstances which necessitated the development of this

concept was to answer the question: Do individuals from different cultures

interpret and respond to a measure from the same frame of reference? Experts

agree that the lack of measurement invariance in constructs when making

comparisons between groups is of paramount importance in cross-cultura1

research (Little, 2000). Our study did not possess measurement invariance, as is

apparent by the non-similar factor structure observed between the two scales as

used in Indian samples and as established by previous American samples. This

could be due to several reasons. One reason could be that the Indian sample did

not have the same meanings to keywords in the statements in the two scales as the

Western samples did. This could be due to the emphasis on imposed-elic (Ryan,

Chan, Ployhart & Slade, 1999) approach that is currently prevalent in research.

Imposed-elic research is an approach where the psychometric measure developed

in one culture. and is assumed to be universal and therefore used across cultures.

This study did employ an imposed-etic approach.

 34

However, in the Emotional Contagion scale, some keywords may have the

same meanings. Evidence for this is seen in the fact that the love subsca1e of the

Emotional Contagion scale did translate perfectly into the Indian culture. The

other subscales however, did not carry over. We must make sure that people in all

cultures attribute the same cultural meanings to various keywords before complex

processes such as Emotional Contagion can be studied cross-culturally.

Differential value ofmeasures

Another reason for the lack of measurement invariance could be that

Indians and Americans have differential familiarity with self-report measures.

Americans may be far more experienced with the use of these measures than are

South Asians.

If this factor does indeed accounts for the different patterns in these

cultures, this problem can be corrected and adjusted for in future research by

using a multi-method approach. Using other methods such as qualitative audio-

visual scenarios, or even hypothetical scenarios on paper with visual images of

certain emotions may translate more accurately across cultures. Russell (1991)

argues that "an emotion category is a script with both culture-specific and

pancultural components". Ifit is true certain components emotions can be found

stable across cultures, and can be studied scientifically, it would lend more

support to the theory that the mechanisms that emotional contagion operates

under is more universal and less culture driven than our data lead us to suppose.

This type of research in the future would also help alleviate some of the concerns
 35

regarding measurement equivalence, as the equivalence can be more thoroughly

established through the study of the pancultural components across cultures.

The context ofthe testing situation

A third reason for the lack of measurement invariance could be the context

in which the participants were administered the questionnaire. The participants

were all young adults who were administered the questions in a classroom setting

with adults present in some situations. While the participants were assured that

their responses would be kept completely confidential, and no identifying

information was collected, the presence of an authority figure could have skewed

participants' responses to certain items.

There were also several other limitations and issues that were discovered

during the course of this study. These shall now be discnssed.

Relative Importance ofEmotional Contagion in explaining variance

A limitation with the results is the low proportion of variance that was

accounted for by the overall parsimonious model. The model in this study

accounted for less than two percent of the total variance. This means that all the

variables put together were not able to account for a majority of the unique

variance available in the sample. There are several other variables that need to be

examined with relation to emotional contagion, such as in-depth analysis of the

influence offarnily life on an individual's susceptibility to emotional contagion,

self-monitoring and even observations of behaviors through social interactions;

however, future research should also be directed at isolating potential moderators

 36

and mediators in the process. For instance, if a person's self-construal is not a

good measure of their susceptibility to emotional contagion, maybe other related

constructs such as masculinity and femininity could capture the variance in a

better manner than employed in this study.

Context versus universality o/human behavior

Another issue with the study is the more abstract issue of context versus

universality of human behavior. Did the results of this study reveal the importance

of contextual details or did it amplify individual differences which are assumed to

be random noise in the background for universal behaviors? Cross-cultura1

psychology strives to understand culture by examining behaviors, attitudes and

values of several cultures and finding similarities and differences between them

(Segall, Lonner & Berry, 1998). Critics of cross-cultura1 psychology have

criticized the philosophy and methodology of the field by pointing out that the

instruments used do not standardize across cultures due to the differences in the

meanings of the keywords. Critics have also described cross-cultura1 psychology

as finding individual variations in what are basically universal human behaviors.

However, it cannot be argued that the study of context is important, just as the

study of basic human processes is.

Evolutionary biology and evolutionary psychology have provided

considerable evidence that certain human behaviors such as finding a mate,

disgust reflex and to some extent, emotional contagion, are universal. (van

Baaren, Holland, Kawakami & van Knippenburg, 2004). However, the

 37

mechanisms by which the behaviors are executed may differ from culture to

culture. For instance, the method of finding a mate differs from culture to culture.

Until very recently, arranged marriages have been the norm for finding a mate,

and that is still the case in some countries like India, where the goodness of fit

into the family and group harmony may be more important than individual

desires. As a consequence of this cultural expectation, the majority of Indians did

not date, and courtship behavior may be drastically different.

However, the processes related to mating are undergoing drastic changes

in recent years because of the increase in dating behaviors and love marriages

among Indians. This increase could be a consequence of greater exposure to

Westem lifestyles; however, there is currently little or no scientific study of these

behaviors. These behaviors and traditions may not be just individual differences;

they may be a result of the interaction of evolutionary needs and the cultural and

environmental context that the individual is in. These processes, such as courtship

behaviors, dating behaviors and marriage - especially love marriage across castes

and geographical regions -- definitely warrant cross-culturaI comparisons.

With the impact of globalization on cultural processes, India is going

through a series of major changes leading to uneven developmental patterns and

behaviors across different sectors of society. With increasing ties between India

and the world due to outsourcing and due to increasing rates of immigration, it

becomes increasingly important to study the similarities and differences that are

manifested in basic human processes to compare and contrast cultures and

 38

peoples (Ka1lampa1ly, 2005). This williead to a better understanding of not just

the psychology of a culture but it would aid in the understanding the interactions

of inherent universal human processes with the situation and the environment of

the individual.
 39

Appendix A

Emotional Contagion Scale

 40

The Emotional Contagion Seale

This is a scale that measures a variety of feelings and behaviors in various

situations. There are no right or wrong answers, so try very hard to be completely
honest in your answers. Results are completely corifidential. Read each question
and indicate the answer which best applies to you. Please answer each question
very carefully. Thank you.

Use the following key:

4. Always = Always true for me.
3. Often = Often true for me.
2. Rarely = Rarely true for me.
1. Never = Never true for me.

1. If someone I'm talking with begins to cry, I get teary-eyed.

2. Being with a happy person picks me up when I'm feeling down.
3. When someone smiles warmly at me, I smile back and feel warm inside.
4. I get filled with sorrow when people talk about the death of their loved ones.
5. I clench my jaws and my shoulders get tight when I see the angry faces on the
news.
6. When I look into the eyes of the one I love, my mind is filled with thoughts
of romance.
7. It irritates me to be around angry people.
8. Watching the fearful faces of victims on the news makes me try to imagine
how they might be feeling.
9. I melt when the one I love holds me close.
10. I tense when overhearing an angry quarrel.
11. Being around happy people fills my mind with happy thoughts.
12. I sense my body responding when the one I love touches me.
13. I notice myself getting tense when I'm around people who are stressed out.
14. I cry at sad movies.
15. Listening to the shrill screams of a terrified child in a dentist's waiting room
makes me feel nervous.
 41

AppendixB

The Singelis Self-Construal Scale

 42

1 = strongly disagree 3 =don't agree or 4=agree

disagree
2=disagree 5 = strongly agree

_ _I enjoy being unique and different from others in many respects.

_ _I can talk openly with a person who 1 meet for the first time, even when this

person is much older than 1 am.

_ _Even when 1 strongly disagree with group members, 1 avoid an argument.

_ _I have respect for the authority figures with whom 1 interact.

_ _I do my own thing, regardless of what others think.

_ _I respect people who are modest about themselves.

_ _I feel it is important for me to act as an independent person.

_ _I will sacrifice my self interest for the benefit of the group 1 am in.

_ _I'd rather say "No" directly, than risk being misunderstood.

_ _Having a lively imagination is important to me.

_ _I should take into consideration my parents' advice when making

education/career plans.

_ _I feel my fate is intertwined with the fate of those around me.

_ _I prefer to be direct and forthright when dealing with people I've just met.

_ _ I feel good when 1 cooperate with others.

 43
1 -= strongly disagree 3 -= don't agree or 4-= agree
disagree
2-= disagree 5 -= strongly agree

_ _JI am comfortable with being singled out for praise or rewards.

_---'If my brother or sister fails, I feel responsible.

_ _I often have the feeling that my relationships with others are more

important than my own accomplishments.

_ _Speaking up during a class (or a meeting) is not a problem for me.

_ _I would offer my seat in a bus to my professor (or my boss).

_ _I act the same way no matter who 1 am with.

_ _My happiness depends on the happiness of those around me.

_ _I value being in good health above everything.

_ _I will stay in a group if they need me, even when I am not happy with the

group.

_---'I try to do what is best for me, regardless of how that might affect others.

_ _Being able to take care of myself is a primary concern for me.

_ _It is important to me to respect decisions made by the group.

_ _My personal identity, independent of others, is very important to me.

_ _It is important for me to maintain harmony within my group.

_ _I act the same way at home that I do at school (or work).

_ _ I usually go along with what others want to do, even when I would mther

do something different.
 44

AppendixC

The Informed Consent Form

 45

Agreement to Participate in
Emotions Study

Aparajita Jeedigunta
Primary Investigator
808-255-4779

This research project is being conducted as a component of a dissertation for a

master's degree. The pwpose of the project is to learn how people in India assess
various emotions. You are being asked to participate, because you live in India.

Participation in the project will consist of filling out a form on background

information about yourself, and two other short forms about emotions. The forms
about emotions will focus on getting your assessment of various situations. Data from
the interview will be summarized into broad categories. No personal identifying
information will be included with the research results. Completion of the form
containing background data should take no more than 5 minutes. Each form will last
no longer than 10 minutes. Approximately 500 people will participate in the study.

The investigator believes there is little or no risk to participating in this research

project. However, there may be a small risk that you will experience psychological
pain when closely examining your own emotions.

Participating in this research may be of no direct benefit to you. It is believed,

however, the results from this project will help better understand the study of
emotions and may lead to a better understanding of the Indian culture.

Research data will be confidential to the extent allowed by law. Agencies with
research oversight, such as the UH Committee on Human Studies, have the authority
to review research data. All research records will be stored in a locked tile in the
primary investigators office for the duration of the research project. All research
records will be destroyed upon completion of the project.

Participation in this research project is completely voluntary. You are free to

withdraw from participation at any time during the duration of the project with no
penalty, or loss of benefit to which you would otherwise be entitled.

If you have any questions regarding this research project, please contact the
researcher, Aparajita Jeedigunta at 808-255-4779

If you have any questions regarding your rights as a research participant, please
contact the UH Committee on Human Studies at (808)956-5007.
 46

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