Self-Predictions of Emotional Response Patterns: Age, Sex, and Situational Determinants

A total of 407 males and females in 4 different age groups (M age = 8.0, 10.8, 15.2, and 20.3 years) completed questionnaires requiring self‐ratings of 5 emotions (angry, happy, sad, fearful, and loving), on a 5‐point scale, for 10 affect‐laden sentences. Each of the 5 emotions was targeted as a key...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inChild development Vol. 61; no. 4; pp. 1124 - 1133
Main Authors Wintre, Maxine Gallander, Polivy, Janet, Murray, Michael A.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.08.1990
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Summary:A total of 407 males and females in 4 different age groups (M age = 8.0, 10.8, 15.2, and 20.3 years) completed questionnaires requiring self‐ratings of 5 emotions (angry, happy, sad, fearful, and loving), on a 5‐point scale, for 10 affect‐laden sentences. Each of the 5 emotions was targeted as a key emotion by 2 sentences. The resulting patterns indicate that children as young as 8 can discriminate between affect‐eliciting statements, differentially rate up to 5 concurrent emotional responses, and predict response patterns similar to those predicted by adults. Furthermore, sex differences occur during adolescence whereby males predict more varied but less intense secondary emotions, whereas females predict fewer but more intense secondary emotions.
Bibliography:istex:9F88C9FF44C31AB4AC52F73568965E025290E552
ArticleID:CDEV1124
ark:/67375/WNG-15Z48D33-W
This research was partially supported by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada grant to the second author. The authors would like to thank Lucianna D'Archangelo for her assistance in data collection and coding, Todd Heatherton for his graphic expertise, and the principals of the schools for their cooperation.
ISSN:0009-3920
1467-8624
DOI:10.1111/j.1467-8624.1990.tb02846.x