Sadness, depression and social reciprocity in highland Ecuador

Pena or llaqui in the Quechua area of Ecuador refers to a state of sadness and depression experienced following a variety of life events. This paper tries to explain why there is an elaborate discourse on such feelings in this culture. It is argued that the Quechuas stress the ideal of social reciprocity in human encounters and are accordingly sensitive to disturbances in social relationships. We observe that they pay a great deal of attention to the victim of pena and that they try to improve relationships with the social network and the family. The indigenous theory on pena also points to the importance of bodily elements closely associated to the psychological conditions. We conclude that knowledge of status relationships are important to understand the emotions experienced when loss occurs.