Article summary of Distinguishing between negative emotions by Jenkins & Ball - Chapter

Preface

Emotions arise as a person consciously or unconsciously evaluates an event which is relevant to his or her goals. Emotions come about, are maintained, and change or end the relationship between the person and the environment, depending on the interpretation of the meaning of the emotion for the person. In this study, two aspects of emotions and social goals are studied, namely the social goals that are expressed by the emotion and the associated social consequences that the emotion expression causes. The reason these two topics are related is that every person can react differently to different emotions because they interpret the emotion as the expression of a social goal or intention, which is different for each individual.

How emotions are distinguished from each other 

The study looked at whether children thought that anger would have a different effect on social interaction compared to fear and sadness, and whether children thought that the person who expressed the emotion had goals in social interaction that are associated with the expression of one emotion but not with another emotion. Research suggests that the appraisal (assessment) of the event determines why one particular negative emotion is experienced instead of another negative emotion. These appraisals include an analysis of our goals in relation to the event. But, the reason that one emotion is expressed faster than another can also include another aspect of goals, namely the goals of one person towards another person (the social goals). Knowledge of the effects of emotion expression on interaction can lead to revision of our expression.

Our experience of emotion may also be influenced by our analysis of our social context. For example, it is not only that someone who is regularly sad interprets the negative events in the world as his own fault (internally) and that it is impossible to change anything (stable), but also that he wants protection and comfort from other people.

Two categories of social regulation: dominance and prosocial behavior

The social-regulatory aspects of emotions have been studied through two categories, namely dominance within relationships and prosocial behavior. Children are expected to be able to distinguish between anger, sadness and anxiety.

Dominance

Anger is generated more often when a person thinks that a negative event is deliberately triggered. The cause for the event is therefore sought outside the person (external) and can be changed. Anger is associated with dominance (power) and fear and sadness with submission (powerlessness). A number of researchers have suggested that anger is an emotion that signals strength or dominance and triggers a reaction from others that reflects an attempt to deal with the dominance of the expressor. It may be that when the recipient of anger experiences the authority or dominance of the other person, the recipient can respond with his own counter-offer for dominance.

Studies also shows that aggressive behavior is more likely to be answered with anger and hostility than with depressive behavior. However, if the person against whom the aggression is being expressed feels submissive towards the other person, there is a high risk of a fearful or sad reaction. So, this depends on the person to whom the aggression is expressed (women are more likely to react anxiously or sadly than men), his or her appraisal of the event and the feelings he or she has in relation to the other person.

Prosocial behavior

In prosocial behavior, a person acts to facilitate or co-operate with another person's goals. Literature shows that even very young children offer comfort and help when they see another person in despair. Sadness and fear evoke more prosocial behavior compared to aggressive behavior. Pro-social behavior is expressed by getting closer to someone, putting them at ease and helping the other person and apologizing. However, it is interesting that respondents think that it is their own fault if they get a furious reaction compared to when the person expresses sad or fearful reactions.

Developmental changes in children's understanding of the social-regulatory aspects of emotion

Another goal of the study was to understand how the understanding of the social-regulatory aspects of emotion in children changes with age. When children become older, they become better at distinguishing between real and apparent emotions. They are also better able to mask their feelings and to show more socially acceptable emotions, even when their internal experience is negative. Research also shows that children make a distinction between the effects of positive and negative emotions on their social interactions.

Method

A total of 108 children participated in the study, with ages between 6 and 12 years. The children were randomly attributed to one of the three emotion conditions, namely sadness, fear or anger. They were read the same three vignettes in each condition, with only the words that had to do with emotion, changed. Girls were told stories in which girls played the lead and boys were told stories in which boys played the lead. The three stories include interpersonal events. In the 'Broken Toy' story, the emotion expressor shows an emotion when his or her borrowed toy is broken by the recipient (the person receiving the emotion). In the story 'Rejection', the emotion expressor shows an emotion when the receiver does not let him or her participate in a game. In the 'Harm' story, the emotion expressor shows an emotion when he / she is pushed too hard on the swing by the receiver (brother or sister) and therefore falls off the swing. The children were then asked per vignette what the receiver would feel, what action the receiver would take, how powerful or powerless the emotion expresser felt towards the receiver and what the goals of the emotion expressor were when expressing of emotion. The three vignettes were each accompanied by a cartoon illustration. The same illustration was used for every emotion condition and no facial expressions, emotional gestures, or emotional postures were used in the illustration. However, while reading the story, the experimenter pointed to the child who was the emotion expressor and asked the child about the effects of this emotion on the other child.

Results

Feelings of the recipient

The research showed that the hypothesis that the anger condition would cause more anger at the recipients than the sadness or anxiety conditions was only supported in the 'Harm' story. However, the effect was relatively weak.

The resulting measures of the recipient

In addition, it became clear that the anxiety and sadness conditions caused goal relocation and comfort rather than the anger condition. In response to anger, the recipient was more likely to respond by turning away from the emotion expressor. Results also indicate that anger, in contrast to sadness and anxiety, caused more aggression.

Dominance

Fifty percent of the children who were exposed to the anger condition therefore thought that the emotion expressor would feel stronger than the recipient, while only zero to twenty percent of the children thought that the emotion expressor would feel stronger after showing of fear or sorrow. With all stories, sadness and anxiety differ significantly from anger, but sadness and anxiety do not differ significantly from each other.

Purpose of the expressor

In showing the anger, children were also more likely to think that the goal was to let the recipient go away than when grief or fear were expressed. When showing fear or sadness, children were more likely to think that the emotion expressor was looking for comfort compared to when anger was shown.

Age differences in the concept of emotion 

The last finding was that younger children differentiated less between anger and the other two emotions than the older children.

Discussion

So, children of six years old think there are other consequences for social interaction when anger is expressed than when anxiety and sadness are expressed. They also think that the social goals of someone expressing anger are different from the social goals of someone who is expressing sadness or fear. However, even children in the age of six sometimes will not or will not express their negative emotions to avoid social consequences.

Differences in emotions on the social-regulatory aspects of emotion

It is possible that a focus on social goals and social consequences of emotional expressions will contribute to understanding the development and preservation of individual differences in emotional expressions.

Age changes in children's understanding of the social-regulatory aspects of emotion

Children between the ages of six and nine have been shown to differ in anger, sadness and fear in terms of social goals and social consequences associated with these emotions. Older children are better able to  differentiate between emotions of anger, sadness and anxiety compared to younger children.

Human psychology or real behavior

In conclusion it can be said that children think that anger, compared to sadness and fear, announces different relational goals and this results in different interpersonal consequences.