Michael Boiger
Biographic Data
| ID | 98781 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Michael Boiger |
| GIVEN NAMES | Michael |
| FAMILY NAME | Boiger |
| SIGNATURE | BOIGER M |
| AFFILIATIONS | KU Leuven |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4311-7236 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 31 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 13 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2012 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Cisheterosexual People in Post-Closeted Times: The Role of Evading Difference in Managing an Advantaged Identity and Legitimizing of Inequalities
How do cisheterosexual people navigate inequality against LGBTQ people in contexts where discrimination is often considered a matter of the past? We argue that some do so by evading difference based on sexual orientation and gender identity. While emphasizing individuals and their fundamental sameness may convey an egalitarian standpoint, evading difference might obscure markers of intergroup inequality, blur the advantaged status of cisheterosex…
Couple conflict observed: Emotions in Belgium and Japan
In the present study, we examined cultural variation in couples' emotions during disagreement. We coded the emotions of 58 Belgian and 80 Japanese couples using the Specific Affect Coding System. We observed more anger and domineering, but less fear/tension and other-validation in Belgian than in Japanese couples. Moreover, in Japanese couples, culturally typical emotions were associated with higher conflict resolution and relationship satisfacti…
Couple disagreement: Inevitable and healthy? Belgian and Japanese conceptions
“Couples who argue together, stay together” is a popular English saying suggesting the necessity of disagreement for a healthy and stable romantic relationship. The present study explores whether Belgian and Japanese participants similarly view couple disagreement as a necessity, and whether conceptions of disagreement have implications for partners' ideas of how to deal with disagreement. We conducted four focus groups in each culture and analyz…
Relatively Happy: The Role of the Positive-to-Negative Affect Ratio in Japanese and Belgian Couples
Satisfied couples in European-American cultural contexts experience higher ratios of positive to negative affect during interactions than their less satisfied counterparts. The current research tests the possibility that this finding is culture-bound. It compares proportions of positive to negative affect during couple interactions in two different cultural contexts: Belgium and Japan. Whereas Belgian relationship goals (e.g., mutual affirmation …
The relational dynamics of anger and shame: Scripts for emotional interactions in Germany and Japan
This study explored German and Japanese scripts for anger and shame interactions between romantic partners. We started from the idea that emotion scripts structure people's knowledge about emotional interactions and should vary systematically between cultures in line with the cultural significance of the emotion that the script organizes. Specifically, we expected that emotions that are consistent with culturally dominant relationship ideals (ang…
Coping with global uncertainty: Perceptions of Covid-19 psychological distress, relationship quality, and dyadic coping for romantic partners across 27 countries
Following the global outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020, individuals report psychological distress associated with the "new normal"-social distancing, financial hardships, and increased responsibilities while working from home. Given the interpersonal nature of stress and coping responses between romantic partners, based on the systemic transactional model this study posits that perceived partner dyadic coping may be an important moderator betwee…
Different bumps in the road: The emotional dynamics of couple disagreements in Belgium and Japan
In the present study, we propose that the emotional "bumps" that couples experience during relationship disagreements differ systematically among cultures. We predicted that self-assertive emotions such as anger or strength play a central role in Belgium, where they are instrumental for relational independence. In comparison, other-focused emotions such as shame or empathy for the partner should play a central role in Japan, where they support re…
Beyond essentialism: Cultural differences in emotions revisited
The current research offers an alternative to essentialism for studying cultural variation in emotional experience. Rather than assuming that individuals always experience an emotion in the same way, our starting point was that the experience of an emotion like anger or shame may vary from one instance to another. We expected to find different anger and shame experience types, that is, groups of people who differ in the instances of anger and sha…
Doing emotions: The role of culture in everyday emotions
Emotional experience is culturally constructed. In this review, we discuss evidence that cultural differences in emotions are purposeful, helping an individual to meet the mandate of being a good person in their culture. We also discuss research showing that individual’s fit to the cultural emotion norm is associated with well-being, and suggest that this link may be explained by the fact that normative emotions meet the cultural mandate. Finally…
Protecting Autonomy, Protecting Relatedness: Appraisal Patterns of Daily Anger and Shame in the U nited S tates and J apan
The present study tested the idea that U . S . and Japanese participants appraise anger and shame situations in line with the American concern for autonomy and the Japanese concern for relatedness, respectively. Sixty‐five U . S . and 72 J apanese students participated in a 7‐day diary study of anger and shame. Each day, participants reported their most important anger and shame incident and indicated whether they themselves or others were to be …
Cultural Differences in Emotions
Do emotions differ across cultures? This essay reviews the markedly different ways in which psychologists have approached this question in the past and discusses directions for the future. We first show how past research has often failed to find cultural differences in emotion by focusing on what emotions people from different cultures can have hypothetically, rather than investigating the emotions they actually have in daily life. Taking a socio…
Fitting in or Sticking Together: The Prevalence and Adaptivity of Conformity, Relatedness, and Autonomy in Japan and Turkey
In this research, we compare two forms of interdependent agency. Whereas all interdependent cultures emphasize interpersonal connectedness, we suggest that the nature of this connection may differ between face and honor cultures. In a large survey, with 163 Japanese and 172 Turkish students, we tested the idea that, consistent with the concern for face, Japanese interdependence emphasizes conformity; that is, fitting in, whereas, consistent with …
The Construction of Emotion in Interactions, Relationships, and Cultures
Emotions are engagements with a continuously changing world of social relationships. In the present article, we propose that emotions are therefore best conceived as ongoing, dynamic, and interactive processes that are socially constructed. We review evidence for three social contexts of emotion construction that are embedded in each other: The unfolding of emotion within interactions, the mutual constitution of emotion and relationships, and the…
Coping with global uncertainty: Perceptions of Covid-19 psychological distress, relationship quality, and dyadic coping for romantic partners across 27 countries
Following the global outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020, individuals report psychological distress associated with the "new normal"-social distancing, financial hardships, and increased responsibilities while working from home. Given the interpersonal nature of stress and coping responses between romantic partners, based on the systemic transactional model this study posits that perceived partner dyadic coping may be an important moderator betwee…
Fitting in or Sticking Together: The Prevalence and Adaptivity of Conformity, Relatedness, and Autonomy in Japan and Turkey
In this research, we compare two forms of interdependent agency. Whereas all interdependent cultures emphasize interpersonal connectedness, we suggest that the nature of this connection may differ between face and honor cultures. In a large survey, with 163 Japanese and 172 Turkish students, we tested the idea that, consistent with the concern for face, Japanese interdependence emphasizes conformity; that is, fitting in, whereas, consistent with …
The Construction of Emotion in Interactions, Relationships, and Cultures
Emotions are engagements with a continuously changing world of social relationships. In the present article, we propose that emotions are therefore best conceived as ongoing, dynamic, and interactive processes that are socially constructed. We review evidence for three social contexts of emotion construction that are embedded in each other: The unfolding of emotion within interactions, the mutual constitution of emotion and relationships, and the…
Fitting in or Sticking Together: The Prevalence and Adaptivity of Conformity, Relatedness, and Autonomy in Japan and Turkey
In this research, we compare two forms of interdependent agency. Whereas all interdependent cultures emphasize interpersonal connectedness, we suggest that the nature of this connection may differ between face and honor cultures. In a large survey, with 163 Japanese and 172 Turkish students, we tested the idea that, consistent with the concern for face, Japanese interdependence emphasizes conformity; that is, fitting in, whereas, consistent with …
Cultural Differences in Emotions
Do emotions differ across cultures? This essay reviews the markedly different ways in which psychologists have approached this question in the past and discusses directions for the future. We first show how past research has often failed to find cultural differences in emotion by focusing on what emotions people from different cultures can have hypothetically, rather than investigating the emotions they actually have in daily life. Taking a socio…
Protecting Autonomy, Protecting Relatedness: Appraisal Patterns of Daily Anger and Shame in the U nited S tates and J apan
The present study tested the idea that U . S . and Japanese participants appraise anger and shame situations in line with the American concern for autonomy and the Japanese concern for relatedness, respectively. Sixty‐five U . S . and 72 J apanese students participated in a 7‐day diary study of anger and shame. Each day, participants reported their most important anger and shame incident and indicated whether they themselves or others were to be …
Doing emotions: The role of culture in everyday emotions
Emotional experience is culturally constructed. In this review, we discuss evidence that cultural differences in emotions are purposeful, helping an individual to meet the mandate of being a good person in their culture. We also discuss research showing that individual’s fit to the cultural emotion norm is associated with well-being, and suggest that this link may be explained by the fact that normative emotions meet the cultural mandate. Finally…
Beyond essentialism: Cultural differences in emotions revisited
The current research offers an alternative to essentialism for studying cultural variation in emotional experience. Rather than assuming that individuals always experience an emotion in the same way, our starting point was that the experience of an emotion like anger or shame may vary from one instance to another. We expected to find different anger and shame experience types, that is, groups of people who differ in the instances of anger and sha…
Different bumps in the road: The emotional dynamics of couple disagreements in Belgium and Japan
In the present study, we propose that the emotional "bumps" that couples experience during relationship disagreements differ systematically among cultures. We predicted that self-assertive emotions such as anger or strength play a central role in Belgium, where they are instrumental for relational independence. In comparison, other-focused emotions such as shame or empathy for the partner should play a central role in Japan, where they support re…
Relatively Happy: The Role of the Positive-to-Negative Affect Ratio in Japanese and Belgian Couples
Satisfied couples in European-American cultural contexts experience higher ratios of positive to negative affect during interactions than their less satisfied counterparts. The current research tests the possibility that this finding is culture-bound. It compares proportions of positive to negative affect during couple interactions in two different cultural contexts: Belgium and Japan. Whereas Belgian relationship goals (e.g., mutual affirmation …
The relational dynamics of anger and shame: Scripts for emotional interactions in Germany and Japan
This study explored German and Japanese scripts for anger and shame interactions between romantic partners. We started from the idea that emotion scripts structure people's knowledge about emotional interactions and should vary systematically between cultures in line with the cultural significance of the emotion that the script organizes. Specifically, we expected that emotions that are consistent with culturally dominant relationship ideals (ang…
Coping with global uncertainty: Perceptions of Covid-19 psychological distress, relationship quality, and dyadic coping for romantic partners across 27 countries
Following the global outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020, individuals report psychological distress associated with the "new normal"-social distancing, financial hardships, and increased responsibilities while working from home. Given the interpersonal nature of stress and coping responses between romantic partners, based on the systemic transactional model this study posits that perceived partner dyadic coping may be an important moderator betwee…
Couple disagreement: Inevitable and healthy? Belgian and Japanese conceptions
“Couples who argue together, stay together” is a popular English saying suggesting the necessity of disagreement for a healthy and stable romantic relationship. The present study explores whether Belgian and Japanese participants similarly view couple disagreement as a necessity, and whether conceptions of disagreement have implications for partners' ideas of how to deal with disagreement. We conducted four focus groups in each culture and analyz…
Couple conflict observed: Emotions in Belgium and Japan
In the present study, we examined cultural variation in couples' emotions during disagreement. We coded the emotions of 58 Belgian and 80 Japanese couples using the Specific Affect Coding System. We observed more anger and domineering, but less fear/tension and other-validation in Belgian than in Japanese couples. Moreover, in Japanese couples, culturally typical emotions were associated with higher conflict resolution and relationship satisfacti…
Cisheterosexual People in Post-Closeted Times: The Role of Evading Difference in Managing an Advantaged Identity and Legitimizing of Inequalities
How do cisheterosexual people navigate inequality against LGBTQ people in contexts where discrimination is often considered a matter of the past? We argue that some do so by evading difference based on sexual orientation and gender identity. While emphasizing individuals and their fundamental sameness may convey an egalitarian standpoint, evading difference might obscure markers of intergroup inequality, blur the advantaged status of cisheterosex…
Psychology (13 works) · Social Psychology (13 works) · Cultural Differences and Values (11 works) · Sociology (8 works) · Emotions and Moral Behavior (7 works) · Social and Intergroup Psychology (6 works) · Social Psychology (6 works) · Anger (5 works) · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics (5 works) · Developmental psychology (4 works)