The ideal poetry is speech that capitalizes on indirection, avers the literary critic Yang Tsai (1271–1323): “Sorrow and grief are held in reserve and no pain is expressed; praise and attack are indirect and not obvious.” To spell out this vision of the Confucian poetics, a reformulation of the IND-COL (Individualism-Collectivism) hypothesis is proposed to anchor cross-cultural differences in terms of Novelty-focus versus Authenticity-focus, with the former being privileged in individualistic cultures, and the latter, collectivistic cultures. The Authenticity-focus hypothesis sheds light on two major functions of indirect expression of emotions: (a) As anti-exploitation device, with the sender’s skills consisting primarily of suppression of emotions; and the receiver’s skills, mind-reading and attunement. (b) As means to achieve inter- and intra-personal harmony, with poetry in particular functioning as a “ritual dance with words” to shape and mold emotions. Data that support the “Authenticity-focus” hypothesis challenge the conventional dichotomy of expression versus inhibition in emotion research, by showing that indirect expression of emotion functions like a veil that reveals and conceals at once the truth of the emoter.
2013. Experiences of Solitude. In The Handbook of Solitude, ► pp. 90 ff.
Cruz, Ana
2023. Chinese Emotionality in Chinese Emic Concepts and its Relevance for Discourse - Influences from Ecology, Thought Systems and Folk Religion. Culture & Psychology
Frijda, Nico H. & Louise Sundararajan
2007. Emotion Refinement: A Theory Inspired by Chinese Poetics. Perspectives on Psychological Science 2:3 ► pp. 227 ff.
SALMELA, MIKKO
2005. What Is Emotional Authenticity?. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour 35:3 ► pp. 209 ff.
Sundararajan, Louise
2004. Twenty-Four Poetic Moods: Poetry and Personality in Chinese Aesthetics. Creativity Research Journal 16:2 ► pp. 201 ff.
Sundararajan, Louise
2008. Toward a Reflexive Positive Psychology. Theory & Psychology 18:5 ► pp. 655 ff.
Sundararajan, Louise
2009. Mad, Bad, and Beyond: Iago Meets Qü Yuan. Emotion Review 1:1 ► pp. 33 ff.
Sundararajan, Louise
2010. Two Flavors of Aesthetic Tasting: Rasa and Savoring a Cross-Cultural Study with Implications for Psychology of Emotion. Review of General Psychology 14:1 ► pp. 22 ff.
Sundararajan, Louise
2013. The Chinese notions of harmony, with special focus on implications for cross-cultural and global psychology.. The Humanistic Psychologist 41:1 ► pp. 25 ff.
Sundararajan, Louise
2015. In the Crucible of Confucianism. In Understanding Emotion in Chinese Culture [International and Cultural Psychology, ], ► pp. 39 ff.
Sundararajan, Louise
2015. The Mirror Universes of East and West. In Understanding Emotion in Chinese Culture [International and Cultural Psychology, ], ► pp. 3 ff.
Sundararajan, Louise
2015. Chinese Creativity, with Special Focus on Solitude and Its Seekers. In Understanding Emotion in Chinese Culture [International and Cultural Psychology, ], ► pp. 143 ff.
Sundararajan, Louise
2015. Harmony: A Delicate Dance of Symmetry. In Understanding Emotion in Chinese Culture [International and Cultural Psychology, ], ► pp. 21 ff.
Sundararajan, Louise
2024. Rasa and Savoring: A Comparative Study of Aesthetic Emotions. In Emotions in Cultural Context [International and Cultural Psychology, ], ► pp. 463 ff.
Sundararajan, Louise, Girishwar Misra & Anthony J. Marsella
2013. Indigenous Approaches to Assessment, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Mental Disorders. In Handbook of Multicultural Mental Health, ► pp. 69 ff.
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