Final answer:
Paul Ekman's research, beginning in 1972, indicated that basic emotional expressions are universal across different cultures. His work aligns with Darwin's suggestions and is further supported by studies such as Fritz et al.'s 2009 research showing the Mafa tribe's recognition of emotions in music.
Step-by-step explanation:
The researcher who studied our emotions and believes that basic modes of emotional expression are the same across all cultures is Paul Ekman. Ekman's groundbreaking work began in 1972 when he traveled to New Guinea to study the facial expressions of a man from a preliterate culture. He found that despite cultural differences, there are universal emotions with distinct facial expressions. Ekman's further research, which spanned over four decades, supports the existence of seven universal emotions including happiness, surprise, sadness, fright, disgust, contempt, and anger. His findings align with Charles Darwin's earlier suggestion in his book The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals that facial expressions of emotion are universal. In addition to Ekman, a study conducted in 2009 by Thomas Fritz and colleagues also supported the universality of emotions, showing that members of the Mafa tribe in Cameroon were able to recognize three basic emotions in Western music despite having no prior exposure to it, indicating that music may act as a universal language for emotional expression.