Twelve‐Month‐Old Infants’ Sensitivity to Others’ Emotions Following Positive and Negative Events

Keywords

infants, positive childhood events, negative childhood events, infant emotional reactions

Abstract

This study investigated infants’ sensitivity to others’ congruent and incongruent emotional reactions to positive and negative events. Thirty‐six 12‐month‐old infants viewed three distinct interpersonal events (give a toy, break a toy, fight over a toy) followed by an emotional expression (happiness, sadness, anger) that was either congruent or incongruent with the preceding event outcome. The duration of infants' looking toward each emotional reaction was examined. Infants demonstrated sensitivity to incongruent emotional reactions for the give and fight events, representing the earliest evidence to date of emotional sensitivity to negative events.

Original Publication Citation

Reschke, P. J., Walle, E. A., Flom, R., & Guenther, D. (2017). Twelve-month-old infants’ sensitivity to others’ emotions following positive and negative events. Infancy, 22, 874-881. [IF = 2.393].

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2017-05-23

Permanent URL

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/5779

Publisher

Infancy

Language

English

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Department

Family Life

University Standing at Time of Publication

Assistant Professor

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