This does not directly address the question, but set me thinking along
the lines of:
Did Rom Harre not argue that emotions themselves are socially
constructed? That is, we have physiological responses, but how we
interpret them is subject to culturally and historically based practices
of the community. For example, there is research on a particular
Japanese (and Japanese American??) emotion, amae, that virtually defies
description in American English, that is a fairly common emotion in
Japan. Certainly, it would seem that labelling emotions is
socio-culturally based, simply because labelling involves language.
Delving into the realm of psychological disturbance, it is true that
people talk about disturbed cognitions (breaks from reality,
schizophrenia, re-framing, etc.) as much as they talk about disturbed
emotions. Conversely, controlling one's cognitions and controlling
one's emotions (to me, anyway) have a ring of similarity about them. So
I think the original question is an interesting one.
I haven't got the time to dig up references right now, and I'm sure I
read about amae just in passing by way of avoiding reading something I
was really supposed to be reading, so I can't even begin to look for
that one...
Just two cents worth.
Tane Akamatsu
-- e-mail: tanea who-is-at ibm.netC. Tane Akamatsu, Ph.D., C.Psych. Toronto Board of Education Area North Psychological Services 78 Dunloe Rd. Toronto, Ontario Canada M5P 2T6 Phone: 1-416-393-1841 (Sept. to June) fax: 1-416-393-1853 (Sept. to June)