An Observational Study of Children's Attempts to Monitor Their Expressive Behavior
Abstract
SAARNI, CAROLYN. An Observational Study of Children's Attempts to Monitor Their Expressive Behavior. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1984, 55, 1504-1513. This observational study examined developmental patterns in children's attempts to regulate their expressive behavior in a mildly conflictful situation that was contrived by creating expectations in children for receiving a desirable reward but in fact receiving an undesirable one. This situation provided a limited sample of children's expressive behavior when faced with an implied display rule: Look pleased, despite receiving a disappointing gift. Videotapes of the children's expressive behavior were analyzed, and the major findings included significant age x sex interactions wherein the youngest children (especially boys) were more likely to show negative behavior on receiving an undesirable gift (i.e., a drab baby toy), while the older children (especially girls) were more likely to maintain their positive expressive behavior. The results are discussed in terms of developmental differences in (a) awareness of social rules for management of expressive behavior, (b) ability to implement the rule, and (c) motivation to carry out the rule.
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In disappointment task studies, girls displayed less negative emotion than boys in front of the experimenter.
“In studies using variations of the disappointment task, girls have been found to display less negative emotion than boys and to show more cheeriness than boys when they are in front of the experimenter (e.g., Cole, 1986; Saarni,1984).”
From Gender differences in emotion expression in children: A meta-analytic review. (2013) · cites this paper as Saarni,1984
In disappointment task studies, girls showed more cheeriness than boys in front of the experimenter.
“In studies using variations of the disappointment task, girls have been found to display less negative emotion than boys and to show more cheeriness than boys when they are in front of the experimenter (e.g., Cole, 1986; Saarni,1984).”
From Gender differences in emotion expression in children: A meta-analytic review. (2013) · cites this paper as Saarni,1984
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- Authors
- Saarni, C.
- Affiliations
- Sonoma State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Saarni, Carolyn
- Venue
- Child Development
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 1984-08
- Volume
- 55
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 1504
- ISSN
- 0009-3920 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2016909795
- Cited by
- 453
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 21 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 23 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 23 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 19 · 2012: 14
- FWCI
- 3.77
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Child Development (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotions and Moral Behavior
- Keywords
- expressive behavior, self-regulation, display rules, children's emotional expression, age differences, sex differences, disappointment, reward anticipation, developmental patterns
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