If You Are The One is a popular Chinese dating show that has become a worldwide cultural phenomenon.

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Lately, feelings have become a focus of discussion on media and in daily conversation. More and more TV programs are devoted to the emotional aspects of relationships between romantic partners, family members, and other members of society.

Social problems like road rage and cyber-bullying are manifestations of negative feelings. Emotions like sadness, rage, joyfulness, anxiety, fear and hostility are the sources of various behaviors. Studies on these emotions and their impact should be heeded.

Researchers can either study ways that emotions contribute to other social issues or make emotion the focus. As China undergoes a period of social transformation, individuals are driving the process, and individual emotions have greater relevance to the study of society. The anthropological definition of emotion goes beyond a person’s internal psychological status and personal feelings. Anthropologists argue that emotions have rich  social and cultural connotations. Also, they are shaped by a person’s personal and social experience.

Emotions are not fixed. They mimic shifts in the social landscape and changing status. Western theories have been introduced and applied to the study of relations in schools, families and the market. But in the study of emotions, we should consider uniqueness in the Chinese context.

The relationship between emotion and society differs in traditional Western and eastern philosophies. Chinese historian Shi Hualuo argued that in the West, emotion is antagonistic to reason, while in Chinese philosophy, emotions are an integral part of a person as a whole. They are part of human nature.

In recent years, even Western scholars have realized that some logic governing human behavior is not rational. They have begun to reflect on how emotions influence capitalist economic development. For example, “greed” has been widely accepted as one major factor triggering global economic crisis. At the same time, “desire” and “envy” form the emotional basis for mass consumption.

In Chinese culture, emotions are a natural part of a person, but emotions can damage too. If not controlled, they can be harmful to health and social stability. Therefore, the goal for emotion control is to balance instinct with moral requirements. Hence, emotions should not be eliminated but should be refined through education.

To educate emotions means to regulate and control intense emotions in society. The purpose is to elevate “kind emotions” to the level of innateness and spontaneity from the inside, and then social norms can be internalized in people’s emotions. However, modernization has had a great impact on the functions of emotion control and social norms. The introduction of concepts like emotion management, adjustment and psychological consultation contradicts the aim of the moralization of emotions to a certain degree.

Emotions influence patterns of social interaction and determine the boundaries of social behaviors. In the Chinese cultural context, the generation, expression, development and control of emotions, can be integrated into moralization. However, ethical dilemmas brought about by social transition in reverse pose new challenges for the connotation and boundary of emotions. Or, ethical dilemmas can be manifested through emotional disorder. Therefore, we should stress the study of emotions and try to control their negative effects.

 
Zhang Hui is from the School of Sociology and Population Stuidies at Renmin University of China.