Adults' Facial Responses to Children's Anger: The Roles of Gender, Social Context, and Stereotypes

Adults’ facial responses to children’s anger expressions contribute to emotion socialization. As children’s gender and adults’ gender-emotion biases predict variation in other socialization behaviours, we explored whether these factors would predict adults’ facial responses to children’s anger expressions in the present study. Furthermore, we investigated whether learning contextual information about the children would modulate adults’ responses using a within-subjects study design. Fifty-five participants (46 women, mean age = 21 years) viewed neutral-to-angry morphs while their facial responses were recorded using electromyography. This task was repeated after they learned to associate the children with internalizing or externalizing behaviours. Gender-emotion bias was measured using a modified implicit association test (IAT). Prior to the learning task, adults showed a pattern of corrugator (frown) activation and deactivation in response to children’s anger. Neither children’s...Show moreAdults’ facial responses to children’s anger expressions contribute to emotion socialization. As children’s gender and adults’ gender-emotion biases predict variation in other socialization behaviours, we explored whether these factors would predict adults’ facial responses to children’s anger expressions in the present study. Furthermore, we investigated whether learning contextual information about the children would modulate adults’ responses using a within-subjects study design. Fifty-five participants (46 women, mean age = 21 years) viewed neutral-to-angry morphs while their facial responses were recorded using electromyography. This task was repeated after they learned to associate the children with internalizing or externalizing behaviours. Gender-emotion bias was measured using a modified implicit association test (IAT). Prior to the learning task, adults showed a pattern of corrugator (frown) activation and deactivation in response to children’s anger. Neither children’s gender nor adults’ bias predicted facial responses. After the learning task, a similar pattern of corrugator activity was nonsignificant in response to girls. Adults showed greater corrugator deactivation in response to boys, although neither their gender bias nor children’s behaviour predicted facial responses. These findings provide more evidence that learning about children’s social context can modulate adults’ facial responses to children’s emotional expressions. The implications for research on gendered emotion socialization are discussed.Show less

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Adults' Facial Responses to Children's Anger: The Roles of Gender, Social Context, and Stereotypes