If a Colombian says, "estoy molesto," (I am annoyed in English) a Spaniard be confused with the idea that the Colombianis overacting because the anger his interlocutor demonstrates seems more severe than his words. In the same way, when a Basque person says he feels, “etsipena” (desesperación or despair in English), he means he is without energy. However, “desesperación” in Spanish is more related to active frustration. As these examples show, emotions have different nuances in each language and even within the same language, not just because of translation, but also because of the culture that accompanies every language.

"In Colombia, ‘estoy molesto’ implies great anger, while in Spain it is equivalent to saying that you are irritated or hurt," explains Cristina Soriano, senior researcher in language and emotion at the Swiss Center for Affective Sciences at the University of Geneva. "The Basque version of desperation is similar to despair, while the Spanish version approaches something like exasperation; for example, if one says in Spanish that one is "desesperado," an outside viewer would probably expect that person to hit the computer and break it.”

Cristina Soriano pointed out these examples to elucidate her research and shed light on what terms related to emotions mean in different languages ​​and cultures. Specifically, she participates in an international project with linguists and psychologists from 34 countries. She spoke about these issues at the Institute for Culture and Society of the University of Navarra in the framework of an international workshop on Metaphor, Emotions and Identity. The event is part of the Public Discourse project’s MetaforUN research area.

Soriano points out the differences between individualist and collectivist cultures. She took for example a scale where the United States and the United Kingdom are more individualistic than Spain, while Spain is more individualistic than Russia, and Russia is more individualistic than China. These kinds of cultures see clear variance in the emotion of pride. "A personal success in China, Russia or even Spain,” she maintains, “is more likely to be defined as 'satisfaction' and not 'pride.' An Englishman would say, without a doubt, that he feels pride."

Another emotion worthy of study, apart from pride, is anger. The researcher explains that it is seen as a universal emotion; if there is an emotion that exists in all languages, it is probably anger. But this does not mean that it is the same everywhere. "It is conceptualized more negatively in Spanish and Russian than in English, and there are also more metaphorical expressions about the need to control anger in Spanish than in English," she says. This has to do with the distinction between individualist and collectivist cultures. It indicates that in more collectivist cultures, emotions that break with social harmony are seen as worse and their regulation as more important.

The researcher also recounted a curiosity of Russian: "Compared with other languages, it has few nouns; emotions are mostly expressed through verbs: to be surprised, sad, angry. There is no noun for frustration." That is why, she explains, there are studies that point out that, when moving to the US, Russian immigrants feel liberated because they find a word that captures an emotion that until then had no name. "Learning a new language changes our perception of the emotions experienced up to then and colors newly acquired ones," she reflects.

It is easier for cultures to understand each other when they have more aspects in common. Cristina Soriano alluded to several studies in which a series of people are shown photographs of faces with an expression, and the more similar the cultures, the better they recognize the emotion expressed. "In this sense, if we do not read another person’s emotions well, misunderstandings and conflict are more likely," she argues.

Another way of distinguishing two types of cultures is to see how someone feels when they violate a social norm. There are two main respective feelings: shame and guilt. "In cultures of shame," Soriano explains, "a person feels ashamed; their mistake touches on their essence and morality. In the other kind of culture, even though their essence is not affected, a person feels guilty and responsible." The same type of event is interpreted in two different ways, giving rise to two different emotions, one in each type of culture.

Metaphors in conflicts

Soriano reports that she has conducted research into the types of metaphors we use to talk about negotiations and how their use affects conflict resolution. The first type of metaphor has to do with fighting, and amounts to saying that the objectives at stake are in conflict. Therein people defend their interests and look for allies ... "It consists in proposing negotiation as a war, with a winner and victor, without trusting the other, and calls for non-understanding," she says.

Another way to negotiate is to understand conflict as construction using metaphors such as laying the foundations of a negotiation, building an agreement, contributing, etc. "This representation," she says, "calls for the two parties to contribute and collaborate." And finally there are neutral metaphors such as talking about negotiations as a path or journey. "These neither help nor harm, they are metaphors in which negotiation is understood as an open process whose destination is yet to be seen," she concluded.

Based on this distinction, her team proposed an experiment in which people were made to negotiate. The experiment was done on a computer and participants were asked to select whether or not they would collaborate with other people, and depending on the joint decision they would both win, or they would lose to different extents. If the two collaborated, they made money; if neither cooperated, both lost a lot of money. And if one decided to cooperate, but the other did not, the one who did not cooperate would take everything and the one who cooperated would lose everything. Each participant was given a clue as to how the other person understands negotiation: as a fight, building, or journey. "Here we have definitely seen the influence of metaphors; collaboration is less likely especially if the other person sees negotiation as a fight," she contended.