CogNews reports here that some researchers have discovered emotional response differs between subjects in western and subjects in Japanese culture. These researchers have shown that westerners and the Japanese assess situations differently. Whereas westerners concentrate on a person’s facial features to evaluate their response, Japanese are attentive to the background features of the situation (more here).
Their research seems to support Nisbett’s (and Nisbett et al’s) studies that there are differences in reasoning patterns between eastern and western cultures.
