Abstract
Previous research has shown that there is a difference between ideal affect and actual affect. While ideal affect is more heavily influenced by cultural factors, actual affect is influenced more by temperamental factors. In the current cross-cultural study, high-arousal positivity (HAP) and low-arousal positivity (LAP) were studied to determine if Americans and Hong Kong Chinese have different preferences in ideal positive affect. Eye-tracking technology was used to determine if individuals attend more to pictures of their preferred ideal affect (either HAP or LAP). Additionally, self-reported ideal preference was recorded. It was hypothesized that gaze pattern and choice preference would vary by culture, with Americans preferring HAP and Hong Kong Chinese preferring LAP. Results show a main effect of culture, indicating that Hong Kong Chinese have longer fixation durations than Americans regardless of arousal level. There was also a significant difference in choice preference with Americans preferring HAP expressions significantly more than Hong Kong Chinese.