Characteristics of the Cognition of Facial Expression of the Nursing Students by Using the Japanese IFEEL Pictures Test—In Case of “A” University Nursing Students

• Published in: Journal of Japan Academy of Nursing Science Vol. 27; no. 3; pp. 3_66 - 3_74
• Main Authors: Nishizawa, Yoshiko, Kobayashi, Akemi, Saito, Kumiko, Kudo, Seiko, Ogura, Noriko, Ishioka, Kaoru, Ogino, Ayako, Saito, Mikiko, Hanaya, Michiko
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: Japan Academy of Nursing Science 15.09.2007
• Subjects: emotional sympathy; nursing students; the cognition of facial expression
• ISSN: 0287-5330; 2185-8888
• DOI: 10.5630/jans.27.3_66

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to clarify the cognition of facial expression between the nursing students and the nurses, and the relationship between the cognition of facial expression and that of emotional sympathy. Method: The participants were 63 nursing students of “A” University, and 45 nurses of “B” hospital. JIFP test was used for measurement of the cognition of facial expression. The feeling and the emotion which was answered by the participants were classified into the corresponding categories, and the appearance rate of the category of each photograph and the frequency of the use of the category were calculated. Moreover, pleasant-unpleasant feelings of photographs were evaluated by the participants at five point levels. The emotional sympathy scale was used for measurement of the participants' emotional sympathy. Results: 1. Although the nursing students and the nurses recognized the photographs' expressions well, differences in the cognition were shown in some photographs. 2. The frequency of the use of sadness, dissatisfaction, jealousy, and some others was higher in the nursing students, and that of sleepiness and self-assertion was higher in the nurses. 3. Although the nursing students and the nurses evaluated the photographs' expressions appropriately on a pleasant-unpleasant feeling scale, differences were recognized with 12 photographs, and the score of the nursing students was lower than that of the nurses. 4. The score of “emotional sympathy scale I; emotional-warmth” was significantly higher in the students, but the score of “emotional sympathy scale II; emotional-coolness” was significantly higher in the nurses. 5. The correlation was recognized between the score of each of the emotional scales and the frequency of the use of some categories. Conclusion: It was suggested that emotional sympathy was involved in cognition of the facial expressions which showed differences between the nursing students and the nurses.