Supplementary file 1_The relational ground of emotion: an Ubuntu-based critique of individualist ontology in theories of emotion.docx

However, this acceptance rests on an unquestioned ontological assumption that an individual subject experiences emotions, and that culture shapes this subject from the outside. This study aims to ontologically challenge this assumption within the context of small-scale traditional communities in Africa.

This study, conducted using critical review methodology and PRISMA 2020 reporting standards, searched the Web of Science, Scopus, and PsycINFO databases. 57 qualitative and theoretical studies meeting the inclusion criteria were evaluated. The included studies address ritual practices, collective identity, social norms, and cosmological belief systems as cultural contexts of emotion. The findings reveal that emotions in these communities are not individual experiences shaped by culture, but relational processes rooted in collective networks.