UC Merced

Previous research has investigated how parents talk with their children about emotions differing by positive and negative valence. This study examined how parents communicate about discrete categories of emotion (anger, sadness, disgust, fear, joy). Specifically, we examined how parents differentially directed attention to different contextual elements of discrete emotions. A sample of 39 infant-caregiver dyads with infants 18-months (n = 20, Mage= 18.69) and 24-months (n = 19, Mage= 23.88) participated in a picture book activity. Parents described 10 scenes depicting discrete emotions to their child. Each image contained a single child (emoter) displaying one of five emotions and an object toward which the emotion was directed (referent). Results showed that parents generally talked more about sadness, disgust, and fear contexts than joy contexts. Further analysis indicated that parents referenced the emoter more in anger and sadness contexts and talked about the referent more in joy, disgust, and fear contexts. Additionally, parents posed more questions to female than to male infants. Interestingly, no age differences were observed for any measure. These findings add to our understanding of infant emotional development and socialization by providing new insight into how parents talk about discrete emotions that may, in turn, differentially direct their child’s attention in emotional contexts.