Citation

Kollareth D, Russell JA. Cogn. Emot. 2016; 31(6): 1169-1180.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/02699931.2016.1202200

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Do different languages have a translation for the English word disgust that labels the same underlying concept? If not, the English word might label a culture-specific concept. Four studies (Ns = 93, 90, 180, 960) compared disgust to its common translation in Hindi (an Indo-European language) and in Malayalam (a Dravidian language) by examining two components of the concept thought of as a script: causal antecedent and facial expression. The English word was used to refer to reactions to both unclean substances and moral violations; Hindi and Malayalam translations referred mainly to moral violations. Speakers of all three languages associated different facial expressions to unclean substances and moral violations. Words for disgust in the three languages failed a test of translation equivalence (a correlation of.80 or above across emotional facial expressions).

Language: en