Van Hemert, D. A., Poortinga, Y. H., & van de Vijver, F. J. (2007). Emotion and culture: A meta-analysis. Cognition and Emotion, 21(5), 913-943. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699930701339293

Authors conducted a meta-analysis on 190 cross-cultural studies of emotions (published between 1967 and 2000) intended to understand (1) whether reported cross-cultural differences in emotion variables were valid (substantive factors) or method-related (statistical artefacts, cultural bias), and (2) which country characteristics could explain valid cross-cultural differences in emotion. At the sample, study, and country levels, the relative contributions of substantive and method-related aspects were studied, and country-level explanations for differences in emotions were tested. The findings of meta-analysis showed that correcting for statistical aberrations and method-related factors significantly reduced the reported cross-cultural effect sizes. The remaining cross-cultural variance was linked to subsistence style, political system, values, and religiosity after controlling for valence (positive vs. negative emotions) and kind of study (self-report vs. recognition studies). Ecological and social variables explained less variance than values. Method-related factors (13.8 percent of variation explained) and culture-level factors (27.9% of variance explained) were shown to be responsible for observed cross-cultural disparities.