Emotion Culture and Cognitive Constructions of Reality

Emotions comprise part of the meaning-making process of individuals and are easily integrated in cognitive constructions of reality. U.S. emotion culture upholds a standard of cheerfulness commonly practiced in interpersonal communication. The adopted emotional norm tends to affect representations of the everyday reality shared in conversation. Twelve respondents, who have lived both in the United States and Europe, describe the cheerful style they witness in their U.S. environments and illuminate how it interacts with their cognitive process. The realities of home, workplace, leisure time, business and education are reconceptualized during the communication act in the direction of greater positivity than originally perceived. The reframing ensues “naturally” from the national emotion culture—namely, the value placed on positive emotions in U.S. culture.