Is there really such a thing as human nature , or are all of our thoughts and instincts just the production of cultural conditioning ? This is a question that has keep philosopher and anthropologists in a job for thousands of days , but new research may have just shift this eld - older debate closer to a conclusion , by revealing that the meanings of certainfacial expressionsare not universal , and can rather change between cultures .
Though the ability to translate the body language of others is often taken for granted as an innate skill , the results of a study release today in theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciencesindicate that intuitive shape of social communicating are not pre - program into our consciousness , but are in fact acquired . Such a determination add up considerable weight to the concept ofcultural relativism , which have got that we as humans are notinherently compelledto feel or act in any special room , and are rather molded by our environment .
A team of investigator testify a serial of photographs depict a range of facial expressions to children from the Trobriand Islands of Papua New Guinea , opt for their isolation from westerly civilization , and ask them to identify the emotion being draw in each image . amazingly , the children consistently attributed feelings to these faces that contradicted the reply given by another radical of Western children base in Spain .
The study authors were particularly keel to find that while the Spanish children were able to acknowledge a “ gasp ” cheek as an indicator of awe , the Trobrianders tended to see this manifestation as a sign of anger or scourge .
In a follow - up experimentation , the researchers register both group another series of photo and asked them to foot out the heavy typeface . As bear , the Spanish small fry on a regular basis pick out the “ scowling ” face , but the Trobriand nestling were much more potential to opt for the “ gasping ” face .
found on these upshot , it is thought that certain aspects of social communicating that are often simulate to be born are in fact learned , suggesting that much of what we thought we knew about the human condition may just be the product of ethnic programing .
More specifically , the study authors insist that their findings " should lead researchers to reconsider the assumption that a ' fright ' gasp face is a unvarying , pancultural index of awe . "
