Display Rules for Anger, Sadness, and Pain: It Depends on Who Is Watching

This study examined factors that may influence children's decisions to control or express their emotions including type of emotion (anger, sadness, physical pain), type of audience (mother, father, peer, alone), age, and sex. Children's reported use of display rules, reasons for their decisions, and reported method of expression were examined. Subjects were 32 boys and 32 girls in each of the first ( M = 7.25 years old), third ( M = 9.33 years old), and fifth grades ( M = 11.75 years old). Regardless of the type of emotion experienced, children reported controlling their expression of emotion significantly more in the presence of peers than when they were with either their mother or father or when they were alone. Younger children reported expressing sadness and anger significantly more often than did older children, and girls were more likely than boys to report expressing sadness and pain. Children's primary reason for controlling their emotional expressions was the expectation of a negative interpersonal interaction following disclosure.     

Aggressive Boys in the Classroom: Biased Attributions or Shared Perceptions?

This study of 32 aggressive (AG) and 32 nonaggressive (NA) boys applied a social information processing analysis to interactions between children and their teachers. In a cue reading task, AG and NA subjects estimated teacher anger in ambiguous situations where the targets of the teacher behavior were the subjects, NA peers, and AG peers. AG boys predicted that greater teacher anger would be directed toward themselves than did NA boys. However, this could not be interpreted as an attributional bias specific to AG boys, because both NA and AG boys predicted that greater hostility would be directed toward AG boys. Target status was the primary determinant of cue interpretation. AG boys were more likely than NA boys to choose aggressive solutions to problems involving teachers and to judge aggressive solutions to be competent. The results suggested that NA subjects were actually more effective than AG subjects in enacting an aggressive response.     

Emotion Expression Processes in Children''s Peer Interaction: The Role of Peer Rejection, Aggression, and Gender

The goal of the current study was to investigate sociometric status, aggression, and gender differences in children's expression of anger, happiness, and sadness. Participants were 111 second-grade African American boys and girls, half rejected and half average sociometric status, and half aggressive and half nonaggressive as assessed by their peers. Children interacted with a confederate in two standardized competitive game paradigms. Participants' expressions of anger, happiness, and sadness were observationally coded across facial, verbal intonation, and nonverbal modalities. Rejected children expressed more facial and verbal anger than average-status children. Rejected children also expressed more nonverbal happiness than average children, but only during turns of the game that were favorable to the participant. Finally, boys expressed more facial, verbal, and nonverbal anger than girls.     

Interpretation of emotion from facial expressions in children with and without learning disabilities

The accuracy and time required for children with and without learning disabilities to interpret emotions when restricted to information from facial expressions, and the accuracy of those interpretations, were investigated. Ninety-six children participated; an equal number of males and females were included in both learning categories and age levels. Accuracy and response time on a modified version of Pictures of Facial Affect were recorded for the emotions of fear, sadness, surprise, anger, happiness, and disgust, as well as for the entire task. Three-way ANOVAs revealed children with learning disabilities to (a) be less accurate interpreters of emotion and (b) spend more time identifying specific emotions. Both age and sex influenced response time: Younger subjects required more time to interpret the emotions of fear and anger; males spent more time interpreting happiness. Younger females with learning disabilities displayed difficulty in interpretation, and older children with learning disabilities (particularly males) were rapid, but often inaccurate, interpreters of emotion.     

Getting Angry at Peers: Associations with Liking of the Provocateur

We examined how preschoolers coped with anger in interactions with well liked and not well liked peers. The free-play interactions of preschool-aged children ( M age = 66.27 months) were observed for 6 months. The frequency, causes, and intensity of children's anger, as well as their anger-related reactions, were compared for incidents provoked by peers who were "really liked" to those provoked by peers who were liked only "a little bit." Although there were no differences in the intensity of anger provocations by well liked and not well liked provocateurs, children's responses to provocations by well liked peers were more controlled than was the case for anger provoked by peers who were not well liked. In general, boys were more responsive to how they felt about the provocateur than were girls. These findings suggest that anger episodes with well liked children were less stressful than those with peers who were not well liked.     

Comparison of sadness, anger, and fear facial expressions when toddlers look at their mothers

Research suggests that sadness expressions may be more beneficial to children than other emotions when eliciting support from caregivers. It is unclear, however, when children develop the ability to regulate their displays of distress. The current study addressed this question. Distress facial expressions (e.g., fear, anger, and sadness) were examined in 24-month-old toddlers throughout 4 episodes as well as specifically during looks to their mothers. Consistent with hypotheses and the literature, toddlers expressed sadness more frequently and with more intensity than target emotions only during looks to their mothers. These findings indicate that toddlers as young as 24 months of age are using particular emotional displays to elicit support from the social environment.     

White children's empathy-related responding and prosocial behavior toward White and Black children

Relations among White (non-Latinx) children's empathy-related responding, prosocial behaviors, and racial attitudes toward White and Black peers were examined. In 2017, 190 (54% boys) White 5- to 9-year-old children (M = 7.09 years, SD = 0.94) watched a series of videos that depicted social rejection of either a White or Black child. Empathy-related responses, prosocial behaviors, and racial attitudes were measured using multiple methods. Results showed that younger children showed less facial concern toward Black than White peers and greater increases with age in concern and prosocial behaviors (sharing a desirable prize) for Black, compared to White, targets. Children's facial anger increased with age for White but not Black targets. The findings can extend our understanding children's anti-racism development.     

Patterns of Social Expectations among Black and Mexican-American Children

In 2 studies, a total of 213 black and Mexican-American third- and sixth-grade children were asked to respond to 8 videotaped scenes of everyday social encounters with same-ethnic, unfamiliar peers at school. Mexican-American children reported expectations for sharing and relying on authority figures significantly more often, and apologizing, getting angry, and initiating action significantly less often than their black peers. Emotional responses decreased and socially desirable responses increased with grade for both groups. In addition, ethnic differences were greater at the sixth-grade than at the third-grade level for both groups. Girls apologized and sought help from teachers more often than boys, and social expectations varied by sex for each ethnic group. Individual children varied in the degree of similarity to their group, with some children giving responses highly typical of their group across all 8 scenes and others giving responses not typical of their group. High self-esteem was significantly correlated to being similar to one's own group.     

Peer victimization in children with Attention‐Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

This study explored peer victimization in 9‐ to 14‐year‐old children with and without Attention‐Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The sample comprised 104 children, 52 of whom had a previous ADHD diagnosis. Children with ADHD had higher overall rates of self‐reported victimization by peers and parent‐ and teacher‐reported bullying behavior than did children without ADHD. The rates of victimization were especially high for girls with ADHD. Furthermore, children with ADHD reported higher frequencies of verbal, physical, and relational victimization than did children without ADHD. When data were pooled from children, parents, and teachers, children with ADHD were categorized as victims, bullies, and bully/victims significantly more often than were children without ADHD. Parent ratings of ADHD symptoms predicted self‐reported victimization by peers. Neither parent‐rated anxious‐shy behaviors nor parent‐ and teacher‐rated social skills predicted victimization by peers over and above ADHD symptoms. Parent ratings of oppositional behavior mediated the relationship between ADHD symptoms and parent‐ and teacher‐rated bullying. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Relations of parenting and temperament to Chinese children's experience of negative life events, coping efficacy, and externalizing problems

The relations of parenting and temperament (effortful control and anger/frustration) to children's externalizing problems were examined in a 3.8-year longitudinal study of 425 native Chinese children (6–9 years) from Beijing. Children's experience of negative life events and coping efficacy were examined as mediators in the parenting- and temperament-externalizing relations. Parents reported on their own parenting. Parents and teachers rated temperament. Children reported on negative life events and coping efficacy. Parents, teachers, children, or peers rated children's externalizing problems. Authoritative and authoritarian parenting and anger/frustration uniquely predicted externalizing problems. The relation between authoritarian parenting and externalizing was mediated by children's coping efficacy and negative school events. The results suggest there is some cross-cultural universality in the developmental pathways for externalizing problems.     

儿童情绪表达规则的研究综述

情绪表达规则是儿童情绪社会化的结果,用以指导特定社会情境下表现社会期望情绪的一套规则,包括最大化规则、最小化规则、面具规则和替代规则四种类型。儿童情绪表达规则的认知发展存在显著的性别和年龄差异,并受家庭情绪环境的显著影响,与儿童的社会能力有显著的正相关。     

Preschool Teachers’ Explanations for Hygiene Habits and Young Children’s Biological Awareness of Contamination

Research Findings: Preschools have many norms and rules children are supposed to follow. Among them, behavioral norms associated with mealtime are of great consequence because eating is an essential life function. The present study examined young Japanese children’s understanding of hygiene norms and rules at mealtime from the standpoint of their awareness of contamination. Previous studies on contamination sensitivity have mainly focused on children’s knowledge itself and have paid little attention to the origins of such knowledge. However, the present study examined how adults talk to children about contamination as 1 possible source of children’s knowledge. Practice or Policy: Study 1 involved 32 days of observations during lunchtime at 3 Tokyo preschools. The teachers frequently told children to adhere to hygiene habits such as washing their hands. Although preschool teachers attached much weight to hygiene, their explanations were not precise. They often used 1-word or 1-phrase directions (e.g., “Dirty”) or just input-output explanations such as “Please wash your hands, or you’ll get sick.” Explanations of why breaking hygiene norms would lead to sickness were seldom offered to children. In Study 2, 26 children age 3 (M age = 3.7) and 22 children age 5 (M age = 5.7) were asked to explain why breaking hygiene norms would lead to sickness. In contrast with teachers’ simple expressions in Study 1, even 3-year-old children frequently generated contamination mechanism explanations (e.g., referring to germs and disgust transmission spontaneously).     

我是优秀的小司机--浅谈中班角色游戏中师幼互动的有效性

角色游戏是幼儿运用想象,通过语言、表情、动作等表现出自己对生活中角色的认识和体验,是创造性想象活动过程。幼儿在中班年龄段,其游戏水平明显进步,对游戏主题确定、角色分配、游戏计划的制订等都有自己的想法。在这一阶段,教师与幼儿的互动处在一个比较微妙的状态,常常会出现一些不利于教师、幼儿进行良好互动的因素,教师如何找出这些因素以及解决的措施,成为提高中班幼儿角色游戏水平的关键。     

学前儿童情绪表征认知发展的实验研究

通过故事叙述并辅以图片展示的形式，考察了72名3～5岁儿童理解人的外在情绪表现与其内在心理状态的关系。结果显示：3～5岁儿童对外在情绪表现与内在心理体验间关系的理解没有年龄差异，都还没有真正把握外在情绪表现和内在心理体验复杂关系的实质；3～5岁儿童对复杂性不同的外在情绪表征与内在心理感受不一致的情境的认识也不同，3～5岁儿童对情绪表征问题的理解性别差异不显著。     

Relations of Preschoolers' Social Acceptance to Peer Ratings and Self-Perceptions

To examine the relations of preschoolers' social acceptance to peer ratings and self-perceptions, 53 preschoolers were asked to rate how much they liked or disliked their peers and to justify these ratings. Preschoolers also rated their peers' aggressive, prosocial, and sociable behavior. Finally, they completed a pictorial self-perception scale that assessed their views of their physical competence and their relationships with mother and with peers. Children who were better liked by peers were rated as more prosocial, more sociable, and less aggressive than less liked children. Preschoolers often reported liking certain peers because they perceived that those peers liked them; they often reported disliking certain peers because they perceived those peers as aggressive. In contrast to findings with older children, preschoolers' social acceptance was not significantly related to any aspect of their self-perceptions. The results provide evidence for the validity of peer ratings by preschool-age children and bring up issues related to the development and assessment of self-perceptions among preschoolers.     

Spending time with teacher: characteristics of preschoolers who frequently elicit versus initiate interactions with teachers

The goal of the present study was to explore the interface between young children’s socio-emotional characteristics and the nature of their interactions with teachers. The participants in this study were 135 preschool children (62 males and 73 females, M_age=48.68 months, SD=8.30 months). Children’s interaction with teachers and play behaviors were observed during teacher-supervised free play with peers. Teachers also rated child behavior problems and social competence. Three groups of children (representing n=76 children) were identified based on the frequency and the nature of their interactions with teachers. Children who most frequently initiated interactions with teachers behaved and were rated by teachers as being more aggressive than their comparison peers. In contrast, children who most frequently received initiations from teachers were more shy and anxious than their peers. Finally, children who spent less time with teachers were more sociable, less solitary, and evidenced fewer behavior problems than peers who interacted more frequently with teachers. Implications for early-childhood educators are discussed in terms of outcomes that may be associated with overly dependent teacher–child relationships.     

Children's Affectionate Behavior Gender Differences

The purpose of this study was to examine differences in (a) the amount of affectionate behavior expressed by boys and girls and (b) the types of recipients of boys' and girls' affectionate behavior. Data were collected by conducting naturalistic observations of 76 children (32 males and 44 females) in six daycare centers. The affectionate behaviors observed were smiling, affectionate words, and active and passive affectionate physical contact. The results indicated that children's affectionate behavior was not gender typed as defined by social learning theory. However, there were gender differences related to the recipients of children's affectionate behavior. Children expressed more affection to (a) individual children and teachers than to groups and (b) same-gender peers than to opposite-gender peers. The specific behaviors making important contributions to the overall differences between boys' and girls' expressions of affection to male and female children differed. The results indicate there is a need to include the interpersonal context of the behavior when examining gender differences and to expand theory and research on the role of affection in children's development and relationships.     

Regular teacher concerns with mainstreamed learning handicapped children

The psychologist who is involved in the placement and support of mainstreamed learning handicapped children is often called upon to assist regular teachers to meet the special needs of these children. This study examined the concerns of regular class teachers who were the primary instructors for 51 educable mentally retarded pupils and 196 educationally handicapped children. Teachers were asked to express the degree of comfort or discomfort they experienced while responsible for the special child in a variety of school related situations. Teachers consistently reported more comfort with activities involving supervision and academics than with activities that involved public display of the child's competence. Five different teacher response patterns were identified, and teachers were found to be somewhat less comfortable with the retarded than with the educationally handicapped child.     

An experimental, observational investigation of children's responses to peer provocation: developmental and gender differences in middle childhood

The primary goal of this research was to use an experimental, observational method to study the development of anger expression during middle childhood. Eight-, 10-, and 12-year-old girls and boys (N = 382) were observed during a laboratory play session that was provoking in two ways: Participants lost a computer game they were playing for a desirable prize, and their play partner was a same-age, same-gender confederate actor who taunted them. Children's responses to the provoking play sessions--facial expressions, verbalizations, and gestures--were reliably coded. Overall, children in these age groups maintained a remarkable degree of composure. Girls made fewer negative comments than boys did, and fewer negative gestures. Older children maintained more neutral facial expressions, made fewer gestures, and were more likely to remain silent when provoked. When they spoke, older children made fewer negative comments, fewer remarks about the game, and fewer positive comments about themselves or the actor.     

Four- and six-month-old infants' visual responses to joy, anger, and neutral expressions.

24 infants, 12 4-month-olds and 12 6-month-olds, were repeatedly shown slides of 3 facial expressions. The expressions were previously judged by obervers to be indicators of joy, anger, and no emotion, respectively. The duration of the first visual fixation to each presentation of the slides was monitored for each subject. The data indicated that the infants looked at the joy expression significantly more than at either the anger or neutral expressions. The results suggest that infants are capable of discriminating emotion expressions earlier in their development than previous studies have implied.