Download

Download Full Text (248 KB)

Keywords

self-conscious emotions, emotion talk, gender, parent socialization

Abstract

This study examines how child gender predicts parents’ use of emotion labels during a storybook task. Prior research suggests that parents may socialize emotions differently based on child gender, potentially shaping children’s emotional development. However, limited work has specifically examined gender differences in parent emotion labeling, particularly within the context of self-conscious emotions. The study utilized a sample of parent–child dyads (N = 95) from the 2023 wave of Project M.E.D.I.A., a longitudinal dataset analyzing parent emotion labeling during a shared storybook task. OLS regression models were employed to examine the association between child gender and parents’ use of emotion labels while controlling for conversation length, child vocabulary, child affective knowledge, and demographic characteristics. Findings indicate that parents used more emotion labels when discussing shame with daughters than with sons. Parents were also more likely to use emotion labels for shame while talking to their daughters when the picture depicted a boy. These results suggest that parents may engage in gendered emotion socialization, which could contribute to differences in children’s emotional competencies over time. Understanding gendered patterns in parent emotion talk can inform future research on emotional development and interventions aimed at fostering balanced emotion socialization across genders.

Document Type

Poster

Publication Date

2025-04-10

Language

English

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Department

Family Life

University Standing at Time of Publication

Graduate Student

Course

MFHD 600

Talking Shame with Boys & Girls: How Gender Shapes Parent–Child Conversations About Self-Conscious Emotions

Share

COinS