Children's Spontaneous Control of Facial Expression
Abstract
COLE, PAMELA M. Children's Spontaneous Control of Facial Expression. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1986, 57, 1309-1321. Spontaneous expressive control of negative emotion was examined in 2 studies of children aged 3-9 using an experimental situation. In Study 1, facial expressions, verbalizations, and spontaneous references to emotional expression control were examined in terms of the child's age and sex and the experimental manipulation (neutral, positive, and mood segments). Results suggested that children attempted to control the display of negative emotion with positive displays and that females did so more than males. No effect of age on expressive behavior was found. Age differences were found for children's spontaneous reference to expressive control, with such references increasing with age. To further examine the possibility that preschoolers engaged in expressive control, Study 2 examined the expressive behavior of 20 preschool girls in the disappointing situation in 2 conditions, alone or with the examiner present. These data indicated that females, aged 3-4, inhibited negative displays when in the presence of the examiner.
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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 Cole, 1986
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 Cole, 1986
Emotion regulation can occur without conscious awareness.
“However, emotion regulation may also occur without conscious awareness, such as when one exaggerates one's joy upon receiving an unattractive present ~ Cole, 1986 ! , or when one quickly shifts attention away from something upsetting ~ Boden & Baumeister, 1997 ! .”
From Emotion regulation: affective, cognitive, and social consequences. (2002) · cites this paper as Cole, 1986
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References 14 · Cited by 477
- Authors
- Cole, P. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Houston (US)
- Corresponding author
- Cole, Pamela M.
- ORCID
- Cole, Pamela M.
- Venue
- Child Development
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 1986-12
- Volume
- 57
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1309
- ISSN
- 0009-3920 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1964775147
- Cited by
- 477
- References
- 14
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 24 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 22 · 2013: 12 · 2012: 13
- FWCI
- 3.46
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Child Development (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotions and Moral Behavior
- Keywords
- facial expressions, expressive control, negative emotions, emotion regulation, children, sex differences, age differences, preschool children, disappointment, social presence, verbalization
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