UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Structures of Sentiment: Mapping the Affective Bases of Social Relationships in Yasawa, Fiji Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/79d936s0 Author Gervais, Matthew M Publication Date 2013 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Structures of Sentiment: Mapping the Affective Bases of Social Relationships in Yasawa, Fiji A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology by Matthew Michel Gervais 2013 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Structures of Sentiment: Mapping the Affective Bases of Social Relationships in Yasawa, Fiji by Matthew Michel Gervais Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology University of California, Los Angeles, 2013 Professor Daniel Fessler, Chair Enduring social relationships structured the emergence of human uniqueness and remain the cornerstone of human adaptation across societies. However, there is little systematic comparative data on the patterning of human relationships and the psychological mechanisms underlying their variation. The present research develops a theoretical framework for the functional organization of affect as it regulates social-relational behavior, and tests implications of this framework with quantitative data from 20 months of fieldwork in Yasawa, Fiji. Chapter 1 uses “contempt” as a case study to develop the ASE (Attitude-Scenario-Emotion) model of affect, in which attitudes, as enduring representations of the fitness affordances of other persons, adaptively moderate constellations of emotions as embodied reactions to relational events. I sketch five attitude dimensions that map onto distinct social affordances: love, like, respect, hate, and fear. ii Decomposing “contempt” in these terms, the core of this cultural model is not a basic or uniquely human emotion but an ancient attitude of no respect and its emotional consequences. This account resolves the “special case” of contempt. Chapter 2 presents a series of interviews that investigate the conceptual structure of the Yasawan affect lexicon. Results suggest that Yasawans use distinct sets of terms to refer to attitudes and emotions; the predicted set of social attitudes anchor the conceptual organization of Yasawan affect; these attitudes differentially and adaptively moderate emotions across social scenarios; and each attitude is emotionally pluripotent. Chapter 3 investigates dyadic social attitudes and relational behaviors within the male social network of one Yasawan village. I describe three relational economic games that integrate recipient identities and other-other tradeoffs while maintaining decision confidentiality. Target need and “chiefliness” drive receiving and buffer against being taken from, while target income drives being reduced at a cost. Attitudes towards targets fully mediate receipt and loss, but not suffering spiteful reduction. These games tap the egalitarian ethos of Fiji, while illuminating the roles of endogenous attitudes and impersonal inequity aversion in structuring Fijian hierarchy. Together these studies advance the comparative endeavor to describe and explain, ultimately and proximately, variation in social relationships as they structure and support human adaptation. iii The dissertation of Matthew Michel Gervais is approved. H. Clark Barrett Alan P. Fiske Kerri L. Johnson Daniel Fessler, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2013 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………………….vi List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………………viii Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………………….x Curriculum Vita………………………………………………………………………………….xii Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..1 Chapter 1: Emotions, Attitudes, and the Case of “Contempt”………….………………………..22 Chapter 2: The Functional Structure of Social Affect in Yasawa, Fiji……….……………….....94 Chapter 3: Attitudes and Inequity Aversion Structure an Egalitarian Hierarchy in Fiji………..139 Figures……………………………………………………………………………………..........196 Tables……………………………………………………………………………………….......229 References………………………………………………………………………………………248 v LIST OF FIGURES Chapter 2 2.01 Dendrogram of a hierarchical cluster analysis of Yasawan affect terms………………196 2.02 First two dimensions of a multidimensional scaling of Yasawan affect terms………....197 2.03 Mean ratings of four emotions across six attitude groups for scenario encounter……..198 2.04 Mean ratings of two emotions across six attitude groups for scenario request………….199 2.05 Mean ratings of two emotions across six attitude groups for scenario prize…………….200 2.06 Mean ratings of two emotions across six attitude groups for scenario victimization…..201 2.07 Mean ratings of two emotions across six attitude groups for scenario death…………..202 2.08 Mean ratings of two emotions across six attitude groups for scenario gift…………….203 2.09 Mean ratings of anger across six attitude groups for scenario harsh……………………..204 2.10 Mean ratings of two emotions by Love and Hate groups for encounter and death…….205 Chapter 3 3.01 Schematic representation of Allocation Game…………………………………………206 3.02 Schematic representation of Taking Game……………………………………………..207 3.03 Schematic representation of Costly Reduction Game………………………………….208 3.04 Histogram of percent of FJD $20 kept by Ego in Allocation Game……………………209 3.05 Histogram of number of recipients allocated to in Allocation Game…………………..210 3.06 Histogram of allocation sizes in Allocation Game……………………………………..211 3.07 Histogram of percent of FJD $21.20 taken by Ego in Taking Game…………………..212 3.08 Histogram of percent of targets taken from in Taking Game…………………………..213 vi 3.09 Histogram of percent of FJD $5 spent to reduce others in Costly Reduction Game…...214 3.10 Histogram of number of targets reduced in Costly Reduction Game…………………..215 3.11 Histogram of size of reductions of one target in Costly Reduction Game……………..216 3.12 Bar chart of total earnings by 50 deciders across three games…………………………217 3.13 Histogram of amount received by targets from all deciders in Allocation Game……...218 3.14 Histogram of percent of deciders from whom targets received in Allocation Game…..219 3.15 Histogram of percent of FJD $20 taken from targets by all deciders in Taking Game...220 3.16 Histogram of percent of deciders taking from targets in Taking Game………………..221 3.17 Histogram of total amount targets were reduced across deciders in CRG……………..222 3.18 Histogram of number of deciders reducing each target in Costly Reduction Game…...223 3.19 Bar chart of total earning by 54 targets across three games……………………………224 3.20 Bar chart comparing reported reasons for decisions in Allocation Game……………...225 3.21 Bar chart comparing reported reasons for decisions in Taking Game………………….226 3.22 Bar chart comparing reported reasons for decisions in Costly Reduction Game………227 3.23 Histogram of relative keep in the Allocation Game collapsed across allocation sizes...228 vii LIST OF TABLES Chapter 1 1.01 Eight features of “contempt”…………………………………………………………...229 Chapter 2 2.01 24 attitude targets from Attitude Targets interview in Study 1………………………...230 2.02 41 emotion scenarios from Emotion Scenarios 1 interview in Study 1………………...231 2.03 32 emotion scenarios from Emotion Scenarios 2 interview in Study 1………………...233 2.04 Most common terms elicited by each interview in Study 1…………………………….235 2.05 40 Fijian terms used in the open card sort task in Study 2……………………………..236 2.06 20 social scenarios presented within subjects in Study 3………………………………237 Chapter 3 3.01 Loadings of 14 target variables on the five factors used to predict target outcomes in the three RICH economic games…………………………………………………………...238 3.02 Loadings of six attitudes towards targets, aggregated across raters, on the two factors used in mediation analyses of target outcomes…………………………………………239 3.03 Results of univariate regressions predicting target outcomes in each of the three games from each of the five predictors………………………………………………………...240 3.04 Results of multivariate regressions predicting target outcomes in each of the three games from all five of predictors together……………………………………………………..241 viii 3.05 Results of a multivariate regression predicting aggregate positive attitudes towards targets from all five predictors together………………………………………………………..242 3.06 Results of a multivariate regression predicting aggregate negative attitudes towards targets from all five predictors together………………………………………………...243 3.07 Results of multivariate regressions predicting target outcomes in each of the three games from all five predictors controlling for positive attitudes………………………………244 3.08 Indirect effects mediated by positive attitudes of each of the five predictors on outcomes in each of the three games ……………………………………………………………...245 3.09 Results of multivariate regressions predicting target outcomes in each of the three games from all five predictors controlling for negative attitudes……………………...………246 3.10 Indirect effects mediated by negative attitudes of each of the five predictors on outcomes in each of the three games………………………………………………………………247 ix ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without the support and guidance received through a far flung network of social relationships. The villagers of Yasawa Island welcomed my research team with unflinching trust, supported us with inexhaustible kindness, and guided our inquiries with unflappable patience and interest.