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International Journal of Membrane Science and Technology, 2023, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 866-878
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Education of the Affective Ideal in Contexts of Cultural Diversity:
BIBLIOMETRIC and Thematic Analysis (2006-2021)
Ingrid Bravo Carrasco1, Enrique Riquelme-Mella2*, Ximena Gutiérrez Saldivia3, Gerardo
Fuentes-Vilugrón4
1Universidad del Bio Bio, Chile; Universidad de Concepción, Chile.
2Facultad de Educación, Núcleo de Estudios Interétnicos e Interculturales (NEII), Universidad Católica de
Temuco, Chile; Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Carrera de Psicología, Universidad Santo Tomas, Chile;
Email: eriquelme@uct.cl
3Universidad Católica de Temuco, Chile.
4Facultad de Educación, Carrera de Pedagogía en Educación Física, Universidad Autónoma de Chile, Chile.
Abstracts: Emotional education has grown exponentially in the last decade, although outlining an emotional regulation
from parameters of majority cultural groups that leaves aside the socialization of emotion from an affective ideal- or the
expected behaviour on the emotional plane that considers cultural differences and education minority group family
members. This study is to analyse research about the affective ideal in contexts of cultural diversity to contribute to it
understanding in education, through a review of documents published in the Web of Sciences, Scopus, and APA
PsycNet databases, in the diachronic period 2006-2021. The need for an emotional education that recognizes the
affective ideal of the cultures shared in a territory is discussed. It is concluded that there is an incipient investigation of
cultural mediatization on the affective ideal in contexts of sociocultural diversity, and little research in the educational
plane. This should be preferred in Latin America, marked by models of monocultural emotional education models, which
in culturally diverse educational settings, translates into discrimination and racism.
Keywords: Affective ideal, Culture, Children, Emotions, Bibliometrics.
1. INTRODUCTION
Families educate their children according to principles they consider appropriate for their well-being, based on
historical, personal, and collective learning [16]. This implies an emotional education guided by factors that outline
an affective ideal, or the performance they expect from their children emotionally. This affective ideal is adjusted to
ages and contexts, emerging a content associated with the family's expectation of children's affective states. This
expectation is constructed from the parents' idiosyncratic experience, but, above all, from their culture, which
outlines norms and behavioural expectations [29][60].
Thus, educating emotion requires competences for an expected development in consideration of the social and
cultural scenario in which these ideals are constructed and are functional within the framework of one's own
knowledge [44]. Indeed, underlying emotional education are representations of the ideal emotional state [56] and its
corresponding regulation [43]. In this sense, the process of family emotional socialization has been extensively
described [11], and the study of parents' beliefs underlying their children's ideal emotional states has been an
emerging topic in psychology and education. However, culturally mediated processes of emotional education are a
scarcely explored topic, mainly in South America [11][42].
The omission cultural variations in emotional education in South American scientific work may be a problem of
the development of science and refer to the conceptual level, however, in practice, the problem emerges when
these variations are not considered, and educational institutions present an education of the homogeneous affective
ideal, ignoring the affective ideals that underlie the family education of native peoples [44]. Thus, emotional
education at school in favour of an affective ideal tends to replicate monocultural characteristics from the hidden
and real curriculum. This curriculum, in contexts of social and cultural diversity, privileges European and Western
educational principles and ideals to the detriment of minority groups such as, for example, Mapuche families in
Chile, which translates into discrimination, racism and overdiagnosis of disabilities and disorders, as is the case with
emotional and behavioural problems in children in school and preschool [1][15].
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The school and educators are modellers of the affective ideal [43][63]. However, despite the importance of the
topic, about the education of the affective ideal in contexts of cultural diversity, no bibliometric studies have been
carried out that allow us to know the state of progress of this area of research. In this context, the aim of the study is
to analyse research on the affective ideal in contexts of cultural diversity published in the Web of Science, Scopus
and APAPsycNet databases, in the diachronic period 2006-2021, to contribute to its understanding in education and
to provide an international overview of the interest that researchers have in the education of the affective ideal in
contexts of cultural diversity. The specific objectives are: 1) to analyse the temporal production of scientific
productivity on the education of the affective ideal in contexts of diversity indexed in the Web of Science, Scopus,
and APA PsycNets databases; 2) to analyse scientific production according to type of publication, journal of
publication, production by authors and language; and 3) to describe the thematic contents.
2. METHODOLOGY
A review of documents was carried out considering bibliometric and thematic indicators, as this makes it
possible to determine the progression and progress of a line of research, area of knowledge or discipline [18]. An ex
post facto retrospective design was used [33]. The unit of analysis consisted of 49 documents published in the Web
of Science, Scopus, and APA PsycNets databases. The first two are multidisciplinary in nature and the latter
specialises in Psychology. Of the total, 44 documents are empirical research articles, 3 review articles, 1 book
chapter and 1 editorial material.
2.1. Bibliometric Search Procedure
A search was conducted in 2021 using the parameters culture and emotion* and ("affective-ideal" or "affect-
ideal"), which yielded 78 papers: 46 in Web of Science, 19 in Scopus and 13 in APA PsycNet. Sixteen duplicates
were removed from Scopus and 13 from APA PsycNet. Since the subject of the study is incipient [42], all types of
publications from the entire period were considered. As an exclusion criterion, documents that did not consider
aspects of culture and emotions were eliminated, leaving 49 documents.
From the 49 documents, the full texts were read and the necessary information selected, thus forming the
database with variables of interest for the research: the year of publication, the journal in which they were
published, the author or authors of the article, the collaboration index between researchers (co-authorship index),
the characteristics of the participants in the referenced study, the key words and the topics addressed, which were
subsequently categorised to determine their importance within the general subject matter.
2.2. Analysis Procedure
According to Montero and León (2007), the design to which bibliometric studies are ascribed is ex post facto
retrospective, due to the impossibility of manipulating the variable studied. To examine and systematise the
information, descriptive and frequency analyses were used, which were processed using Microsoft® Excel software
version 16.33 2019 and SPSS Statistics version 21. For the thematic analysis, content analysis was carried out with
the support of Atlas-ti software version 8.4.
For objectives 1 and 2, the texts were read, and the necessary information was selected, thus forming the
database, which was then transferred to an Excel spreadsheet, where the following variables were categorised:
year of publication, journal, authors, index of collaboration between researchers (co-authorship index) and
language.
For objective 3, a review and thematic analysis of the documents was carried out, categorising their content to
determine their importance within the topic. Descriptive and frequency analyses were carried out using Microsoft®
Excel and SPSS Statistics, version 21. For the thematic analysis, the content of the selected documents was
analysed using open and axial coding of the texts [52] with the support of Atlas-ti version 8.4 software.
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3. RESULTS
The results will be grouped in two blocks: the first one will be the biblio-metric analysis and the second one will
be the thematic analysis of the emerging content.
3.1. Bibliometric Analysis
With regard to production by type of publication, table 1 details the types of publication of the total number of
documents selected as units of analysis. Almost all of them correspond to empirical articles (89.8%).
Table 1. Type of Publication of the Units of Analysis.
Type of Publication
Frequency
Percentage
Article
44
89.8%
Review
33
6.1%
Book chapters
1
2.0%
Editorial Material
1
2.0%
Total
49
100%
Temporal production ranged from 0 to 7, with an average of 3 publications per year. From 2016 to 2018,
productivity increased considerably, reaching the maximum number of publications (7) in these three years (figure
1).
Figure 1. Temporary Production from (2006-2020).
Out of a total of 24 journals that have published on this subject, the majority have published 1 paper (14
journals) and 2 papers (4 journals) on the affective ideal. The US journal "Emotion" stands out with a total of 9
publications, followed by the "Journal of Personality and Social Psychology" with 5, and the "Journal of Cross-
Cultural Psychology" with 5 publications (Table 2).
Table 2. Leading Journals in the Subject Area.
Revista o Editorial
País
Publicaciones
Emotion
United States
9
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
United States
5
Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology
United States
4
Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology
United States
3
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
United States
3
Perspectives on Psychological Science
England
3
Current Opinion in Psychology
Netherlands
2
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Social and Personality Psychology Compass
United States
2
Frontiers in Psychology
Switzerland
2
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience
England
2
International Journal of Psychology
England
1
Cultural Neuroscience
Netherlands
1
Journal of Happiness Studies
Netherlands
1
Cognition & Emotion
England
1
Palgrave Communications
England
1
Current Directions in Psychological Science
United States
1
European Review of Social Psychology
England
1
Psychological Sciencie
United States
1
Psychology and Aging
United States
1
Psychology of Popular Media Culture
United States
1
Sage Open
United States
1
Scientific Reports
England
1
Integrative Medicine Research
Netherlands
1
Social Neuroscience
England
1
Total
49
To analyse the production by author, we followed the criteria proposed by Crane (1969), who distinguishes
between passers-by, aspiring, moderate producers and major producers (1 publication; between 2 and 4; 5 and 9;
10 or more publications respectively). In this respect, transient authors predominate (80.2%); there is 1 author
(0.8%) in the category of large producers; 1 moderate producer (0.8%) and 18.3% in the aspiring category. The
majority of papers (87.8%) are collaborative, with a predominance of more than 5 authors per paper (30.6%). The
average co-authorship rate is 3.73 signatures per paper (table 3).
Table 3. Classification of Authors by Criteria According to Crane (1969).
Type of author
Frequency
Percentage
Bystanders
105
80,2%
Applicants
24
18,3%
Moderate producers
1
0,8%
Large producers
1
0,8%
Total
131
100%
The author with the highest output and most co-authored links to other research is Jean Tsai of Stanford
University, USA, with 15 articles (13 co-authored), followed by Helene Fung of the University of Hong Kong, China,
with 6 publications (Figure 2).
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Figure 2. Network Diaphragm by Authorship and Co-Authorship.
In conjunction with the analyses described above, we proceeded to identify the keywords most frequently used
by the authors in the studies found. In this regard, it was identified that the most frequently used words were:
"culture" used in 30 documents; "emotion" in 18; decreasing considerably to "ideal affect" which reached 5
documents; "affect" in 4; and finally, "positive affect" in 3 published documents (figure 3).
Figure 3. Network Diaphragm According to Keywords.
When analysing scientific production according to area of knowledge, it is clear that "psychology" is the area of
study with the most publications related to affective ideals in contexts of social and cultural diversity, accounting for
71.4% of the total. The area of "ethnic studies" and "neurosciences" are added to the above, with a wide difference,
since they account for 8.2% of the total number of publications (table 4).
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Table 4. Number of Articles by Area of Knowledge (WoS).
Area of knowledge (WoS)
Frequency
Percentage
Psychology
35
71,4%
Ethnic studies
4
8,2%
Neurosciences
4
8,2%
Social Sciences
2
4,1%
Multidisciplinary Sciences
1
2%
Integrative Medicine
1
2%
Interdisciplinary
1
2%
Gerontology
1
2%
Total
49
100%
3.2. Thematic Analysis
The results present general theoretical discussions and challenges for future research. The section on emotion
study and the emergence of the affective ideal systematises the information presented by Tsai and colleagues
during 2006 and 2007 regarding the argumentation and empirical support for the formulation of affective valuation
theory (AVT) and the theoretical and empirical discussions that followed.
3.3. Study of Emotions and the Concept of Affective Ideal
The empirical study of emotions in different cultures and contexts has revealed that emotional experiences can
be studied from the intersection of two dimensions: valence and intensity [25][46][54][61]. The first corresponds to
the feeling of environmental gratification or gain (positive valence) or loss (negative valence). The second refers to
the feeling of energy demand (high intensity) or energy recovery (low intensity). Emotional states present in different
cultures can be categorised considering these dimensions [23][59][47][62]. For example, states of joy or enthusiasm
can be described as high-arousal positive states (HAP), whereas calmness and serenity can be described as low-
arousal positive states (LAP) [62].
Some research shows variation in the affective states of people from the same nation or culture, mainly due to
temperamental factors [55]; other studies show differences between cultural groups and similar emotions in
members of the same culture [59][60]. Given these findings, the need arises to generate a theoretical and empirical
model to explain individual variance in emotions and cultural similarities. Thus, AVT is developed as an integration
of knowledge from previous affective theories and provides a new way to integrate cultural and temperamental
influences on emotion, and to link emotion to mood-producing behaviours [60].
3.4. Affect Appraisal Theory (AVT)
AVT proposes to integrate cultural and temperamental factors into a single theory of emotion [60] based on
three premises: 1) the ideal affective state or how people want to feel (affective ideal) is different from how they
actually feel (actual or current affective state); 2) cultural factors shape the ideal affective state, whereas
temperament shapes actual affect; and 3), mood-driving behaviors are motivated by differences between the actual
and ideal affective state [60][61]. On these assumptions, the theory postulates that individual emotional differences
are due to the actual affect, while similarities are due to the common affective ideal. Both affects are linked through
behaviours and moods; AVT studies the mechanisms of interaction between the actual and ideal affect and the
social contexts that regulate behaviour.
3.5. Empirical Validation of the AVT and the Actual or Real Affective Ideal
A key AVT article is the paper published by Tsai et al., (2006), entitled "Cultural Variation in Affect Valuation".
This paper sets out the arguments and assumptions and the first empirical evidence to support it. To test the
hypotheses, the authors constructed a structural equation model from self-reports of actual and ideal affect in
culturally diverse samples [59]. Two nested models were compared: one considering the affective ideal and the
actual ideal as two factors, and the other treating them as a single factor, revealing that in culturally diverse
samples, the former had a better fit than the latter [59]. These results are valid for both global and momentary
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reports, obtained with the experience sampling method [60]. Other research has reached the same results,
demonstrating that the affective ideal and the actual or current ideal are empirically different constructs [22][49][59].
Research on AVT in early childhood points to the crucial role of parental socialisation with respect to emotional
control and regulation. Parents from different cultures deploy different parenting practices, promoting the expression
of emotional states [29][60]. Throughout the life cycle, cultural products play a key role in reinforcing cultural
patterns, yet there are few studies on this topic. The role of the family in the socialisation of emotion is relevant, but
also that of early childhood educators [43][44], which has been little studied, and no cultural comparisons are
evident [63].
Studies regarding the affective ideal and cultural differences show that there are marked discrepancies in the
media in the way emotions are expressed. Asian politicians present calm smiles, while Americans express very
broad smiles [4][57]. In American celebrity magazines, there is an emphasis on person-centred photographs and
facial expressions, as opposed to Asian ones, which emphasise the environment [10]. The same is true for
Facebook profiles [17][58]. Other studies of real-time smiling found that Asians smiled less than North Americans
[53]. In Western cultures that are considered individualistic, high-intensity emotions are valued and experienced;
contrary to Eastern cultures that are considered collectivistic and promote low-intensity emotions [28].
Exceptions are presented in a study with Mexicans -considered a collectivist culture- who showed a preference
for high intensity emotions, contrary to previous findings; attributing this to the size of the sample and emphasising
the study of ideal affect from the common patterns that shape a culture [45]. Interestingly, the control, appraisal and
expression of emotions associated with the acceptance or avoidance of negative emotions: Americans tend to avoid
the expression of negative emotions more than Europeans [22] and Asians [26][51][34][65]. Both the emotions that
are sought and those that are avoided are an important part of understanding the affective ideal and the cultural
mechanisms that contribute to its formation.
Studies with photographs of faces show cultural differences in assessing the expressions presented and other
attributes, such as the level of trust a person engenders [35][36][37][58]. Response to real-life photographs has also
been assessed, finding differences in the expression of emotions evoked by photographs [13][21]. Along these
lines, when assessing the link between affective ideal and decision making, cultural differences were found on
decisions to hire or borrow money, depending on the applicant's expression of emotions and the decision maker's
interpretation [2][35][36].
Other studies have found differences in response to affective stimuli that may be due to differences in brain
activity [20][35][56][64]. In this regard, Tsai (2017) synthesises 10 years of empirical knowledge on the affective
ideal, describing that there is evidence of strong relationships between it and cultural factors; in turn, there is a
relationship between the characteristics of interpersonal relationships and the affective ideal, being associated with
social preferences and judgments. In contrast, temperament is more strongly associated with actual affect, which, in
turn, is more weakly associated with individual choices and enjoyment of activities.
3.6. New contributions to Cultural Research on Emotions
AVT emerges as a unifying theory of individual and cultural factors influencing affective state, and thus
contributes to theoretical and empirical discussion. It brings together various disciplines such as cultural sociology,
cultural anthropology, cultural psychology and cultural neuroscience. The empirical premises of AVT facilitate the
study of socialisation, making visible the mechanisms by which social norms become part of individual behaviour
[20][61]. Furthermore, by differentiating the temperamental and cultural components of emotion, AVT simplifies the
study of agency in the domains of cognition, emotion, and motivation. Prior to this theory, the operationalisation of
emotions mixed both components, generating difficulties in differentiating individual effects (biological and
psychological) from social processes [20].
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By distinguishing individual and cultural elements, AVT links to cultural neuroscience that seeks to understand
the relationship between biological, neural, and cultural processes [5][20]; recent studies on affective ideal have
already incorporated brain response measures [35][37][62]. AVT also allows for the evaluation of more complex
theoretical models, such as Matsumoto's biocultural model [19][20], which proposes that emotions integrate both
universal (biological-innate) and culturally specific (culturally constructed) elements.
3.7. Main Research Topics on the Affective Ideal
The concept of the affective ideal became public in 2006 with the article "Cultural Variation in Affect Valuation"
by Tsai et al. Early research consolidated empirical evidence to validate the theory, by means of self-reports of
affective states and factorial evaluation of constructs by means of structural equations. The study of the content of
texts and images also made an initial contribution. After the first empirical validations, the conceptualisation of the
affective ideal was used to explore cultural differences in the expression and regulation of emotions.
As exploratory studies of cultural differences in the affective ideal have been consolidated, the mechanisms and
relationships between affect, actual affect, culture, and behaviour have been sought to be understood. This now
relevant concept has been studied in the areas of interpersonal psychology and health. The main research topics
associated with the affective ideal are described below: Cultural differences, emotion appraisal and emotional
response; emotions, perception, judgments, and behaviours; and emotions, culture and health.
3.8. Cultural Differences and Emotional Response
According to AVT, the affective ideal is manifested in the appraisal of emotions and affective states and in the
forms of emotional expression [29][31][32][59][57][58][63]. This is because people seek to feel an ideal affective
state, therefore, they value the environmental conditions that favour that state and express their emotions according
to the ideal state sought. Taking this into account, and considering the beginnings of AVT, exploratory research has
been carried out to verify the existence of an empirical correlate of the model presented.
In summary, the study of cultural products has focused on discovering and describing cultural differences in the
valuation of emotions and their regulation [12][24][34], looking for evidence that confirms the existence of different
ideal affective states in different cultures [34][7]. Empirical evidence on this topic has found large differences. Most
studies compare Americans with Asians, Europeans and Eastern Europeans [24][45]; few studies compare them
with Latin Americans. Therefore, there is a need for more comparative studies exploring diverse cultures on
different dimensions of emotionality, such as negative emotions or harmony with nature [24]. Findings on emotional
responses have made it possible to extend these studies to culture, emotions, judgments and cultural biases [34].
3.9. Emotions, Perception, Judgement and Behaviour
According to AVT, the affective ideal can influence perception, social actions, social judgments, preferences
and the way emotions are expressed, among other behavioural and emotional elements [35][37][51][61][59][58].
Building on the empirical contributions in these lines of research, it has been necessary to study the mechanism by
which emotions are related to interpersonal behaviour and their implication in multicultural settings [2] [34][58].
Early research on affective ideal and behaviour focused on parental socialisation, finding that parents teach
their children to control and express their emotions according to their own affective ideals [29][60]. The relationship
between affective ideal and activity and consumption preferences was also explored [51][60][59]. After empirically
verifying that the affective ideal is associated with behaviours that favour personal affective states, the question
arises as to what types of behaviours may be influenced by affect. Given this question, research on affective ideal
has begun to investigate how emotions are associated with cooperation between individuals through the exploration
of different dimensions of emotional response: when faced with an ideal affective match, individuals respond in a
trusting manner, which facilitates social cooperation actions such as giving or lending money; when faced with the
same photographic stimulus, depending on the culture there will be trust, indifference or distrust [35][36]. Tsai et al.,
(2019) found that affective ideal matching is associated with identity or community affiliation and brings with it
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different favourable social judgments; however, this matching does not affect other types of judgments, such as
cognitive judgments, although when it comes to evaluation, social judgments carry great weight.
These findings provide lines of research on the affective ideal and social and cognitive judgments and their
influence on decision-making, which is relevant to uncovering and understanding bias and discrimination in
multicultural contexts. Along these lines, an exploratory study by Bencharit et al. (2019) on the affective ideal and
the hiring of people showed that there are cultural differences in the expression of emotions (high or low intensity),
both in cover letters and videos, which have an impact on the hiring decision: European-Americans preferred
candidates who expressed high intensity emotions and Asian-Americans and Asians preferred candidates who
showed low intensity emotions. The results of this study provide evidence for the need to investigate biases
associated with differences in terms of affective ideal and emotion expression. Tsai et al., (2019) present similar
results when studying photographs of job candidates, where there is an association between the affective ideal and
the social judgments attributed to the candidates. This relationship is a function of the coincidence or discrepancy of
affect between the applicant and the evaluator, showing differences according to the culture of origin of the person
expressing and interpreting the emotion.
3.10. Emotions, Culture, and Health
In the first articles in which AVT and the concept of the affective ideal are presented, a research agenda can be
seen that highlights the role of AVT in mental health interventions, given that many psychiatric disorders present
various types of emotional distress as a central symptom [59][60]. In addition, there are health beliefs that associate
positive affect with well-being and health [3][8] and that knowing the ideal affective state enables better emotional
regulation strategies [51].
Thus, research on emotions, culture and health indicates that the relationship between affect and health
depends on context and culture [6]. In some cultures, there is a link between positive affect and health [27], but in
others, it is weak or absent [56][66]. Most studies show that culture plays a moderating role in the relationship
between positive affect and indicators of mental health and well-being [3][56][66]. These results indicate that more
studies assessing different mental health and biomedical indicators are needed, given that the relationship between
health and affect is not universal [39][38][66].
To summarise, most studies on affective ideal are quantitative and deal with the association of affective ideal
with psychological and cultural indicators, and the rest relate to health. Studies in education with families and
preschool children are scarce.
4. DISCUSSION
The analysis confirms the need for a careful review of the affective ideal as the articulating axis of a) family
socialisation practices within a cultural framework and b) how cultural artefacts promote patterns for this ideal
throughout the life cycle. Members of the same culture have similar emotional experiences, while there are
differences between individuals from different cultures [59][60]. AVT allows the integration of cultural and
temperamental influences on emotion, but also associates emotion with the behaviours that give rise to mood [60].
In effect, family practices of emotion socialisation present a line that is generally framed in cultural patterns,
where the school becomes relevant, as it also educates emotions through an affective ideal from the majority
culture both in the plans and programmes of early childhood education and in emotional education programmes that
encourages the inclusion or not of certain emotions and their expected intensities. Those who escape this hidden
profile show diagnostic processes with their corresponding adjustment and support mechanisms [43]. In scenarios
of social and cultural diversity, as in Chile, the Eurocentric view assumes without further questioning the ideal
behaviour of a child, assuming that we are in a culturally homogeneous country. Thus, children from minority
groups, voluntary and involuntary, are usually affected by overdiagnosis in special education [14][15], which also
affects families, who expect an emotional education that preserves their values [44].
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We agree that the need to educate emotionally for an affective ideal is certainly necessary; the problem lies in
omitting what is ideal for minority groups. We all want happy children, but what lies behind this statement is also
culturally mediated. Thus, education for an affective ideal can be observed at school, but also discourses, stories,
text images, pictures of politicians and celebrities are elements that become familiar as the media offer and convey
information about this affective ideal to which we aspire [4][57][10][63].
AVT was formulated in 2006 with empirical underpinning from its inception, eventually broadening its scope.
Therefore, there is sustained information to consider when talking about appropriateness in emotional education
[56]. Elements linked to AVT and the concept of the affective ideal have been systematised in this study, presenting
some of the main challenges for future research, as well as a new research agenda for the future decade [56]. From
there, several challenges that emerge in response to the methodological limitations of affective ideal research are
considered, as well as new lines of research.
Affective ideal studies have accumulated rigorous experience, in theoretical and methodological terms, which
allows the original scope of early research to be extended to other areas of study. However, the effect of social,
political, and economic events on average levels of affective ideal has not yet been explored [56]. Another
understudied aspect of AVT is the process of affective ideal development over the life course and how culture and
temperament influence this process [56].
There is now evidence on the importance of understanding the effect of culture and the affective ideal on
discrimination towards individuals from different cultures[62]. There is therefore a need for research in culturally
diverse contexts to explain cultural and individual differences in the affective ideal in different domains, such as
health, education or employment [56]. It is therefore necessary for cultural empirical research to incorporate in its
methodology elements that make the intersectionality between ethnicity, social class and gender visible [30].
Regarding the projection of studies on the affective ideal and its implication in educational contexts, so far only
the role of education as a socialisation mechanism by which children internalise norms associated with affect has
been studied [29][48][55][63], however, the implications of the affective ideal on the relationship between teachers
and students, and cultural comparisons have so far not been studied [63]. Discrepancies in the affective ideal
between teachers and students could reflect manifestations of discrimination [56] as biases in assessments
[2][56][58], or in barriers to learning, and in unifying an expected emotional profile for 'all alike' in terms of forms of
emotional regulation, which is part of the prescribed and hidden curriculum. As a projection of this study, it is
proposed to incorporate aspects related to methodological components of the research in future reviews.
The afore mentioned challenges are even more urgent in Latin America, where the prevalence of monocultural
emotional education can continue to translate into discrimination or racism [44]. Thus, in contexts of social and
cultural diversity, it is not possible to continue to present a didactic of children's emotions without knowing the
affective ideal maintained by the families that form part of the cultures that share a territory [42].
5. CONCLUSIONS
This research can reveal the evidence, albeit incipient, that exists in relation to cultural mediatisation of the
affective ideal in contexts characterised by their social and cultural diversity. At the family and educational level,
these studies are scarce, despite the importance of emotional education from the beginning of the life cycle and
throughout it, and the influence that the family and culture have on culturally relevant emotional education. In this
regard, future lines of research could develop this line of research in a Latin American context, which would allow us
to contrast the results obtained by considering different concepts around the world. The above makes evident the
challenge of research in this line of research and at the educational level, given that Latin America is currently
characterised by following monocultural models of emotional education that do not consider the socio-cultural
characteristics of the students being educated.
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