In its attempt to understand, explain, and predict human behavior, mainstream psychology has notoriously understudied populations in the global south. Africans currently make up 16% of the world’s population and are projected to comprise 25% of the world’s population by 2050 and 40% by 2100, according to UN projections. By 2100, half of all babies in the world will be born in Africa. Investing in research efforts in this population will advance psychology’s broader goals of human progress and understanding.

Emotions are fundamental to the human experience, and wellbeing is important to understanding the human condition and the social influences that impact individual experience. Emotion experiences have been understudied in African contexts. Using data from 2 African countries and the United States, this presentation will explore culturally-shaped patterns of emotion expression, experience, and regulation; cultural emotion norms; and cultural understandings of wellbeing.