Contents : Children`s Emotion Recognition, Emotion Expression, and Social Interactions According to Attachment Styles
Eun Sil Chol , Kelly Bost
Abstract
The goals of this study were to examine how children`s recognition of various emotions, emotion expression, and social interactions among their peers differed according to their attachment styles. A total of 65 three to five years old children completed both attachment story-stem doll plays and a standard emotion recognition task. Trained observers documented children`s valence of emotion expression and social interactions among their peers in the classroom. Consistent with attachment theory, children who were categorized as secure in the doll play were more likely to express positive emotions than children who were categorized as avoidant in the doll play. Children who were categorized as avoidant in the doll play were more likely to express neutral emotions among their peers than children who were categorized as secure and anxious in the doll play. The findings of this study contribute to the general attachment literature by documenting how attachment security plays a crucial role in having positive emotions in ordinary situations. It does so by also demonstrating how different attachment styles are associated with children`s qualitatively different patterns of emotion processing, especially in terms of their expression of emotions.
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