Function of child anger and sadness in response to a blocked goal

Tan, Lin; Smith, C. R.

doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2018.01.005

Cited by 12 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…The interaction terms of interest indicated how the influence of anger on the log hazard was moderated by age. Because of prior literature, Anger Â Sadness interaction was included (Tan & Smith, 2018). The survival model was estimated using the coxme package in R, which allowed for the addition of a random intercept to account for dependencies (R Core Team, 2015;Therneau & Therneau, 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The interaction terms of interest indicated how the influence of anger on the log hazard was moderated by age. Because of prior literature, Anger × Sadness interaction was included (Tan & Smith, 2018).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A small corpus of evidence suggests that anger is associated with appropriate effort toward overcoming a blocked goal in infants, preschoolers, and young adults (Dennis, Cole, Wiggins, Cohen, & Zalewski, 2009; He, Xu, & Degnan, 2012; Lench & Levine, 2008; Tan & Smith, 2018). When preschool age children’s ability to retrieve a toy was blocked, those who displayed anger more frequently and quickly spent more time persisting (He et al, 2012).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In contrast to anger, infants’ sadness was unrelated to persisting at regaining a goal (Lewis, Alessandri, & Sullivan, 1990; Lewis, Sullivan, & Kim, 2015) and preschool age children’s sadness predicted fewer appropriate efforts at retrieving a toy in a locked box (Dennis et al, 2009). Furthermore, another study showed that 4- and 5-year-olds persisted longer when they showed more anger than sadness (Tan & Smith, 2018). Based on the functional perspective on emotional development and the available evidence, we predict that anger should be associated with longer persistence, whereas sadness should not be.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Age-related changes in the relation between preschoolers’ anger and persistence

Ramsook

Benson

Ram

et al. 2019

International Journal of Behavioral Development

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Although the functionalist perspective on emotional development posits that emotions serve adaptive functions, empirical tests of the role of anger mostly focus on how anger contributes to dysfunction. Developmentally, as children gain agency and skill at emotion regulation between the ages of 36 months and 48 months, their modulation of anger may facilitate its functional role for behavior. We examined this possibility through study of how 120 children’s anger and sadness were related to persistence during the transparent locked box task at ages 36 and 48 months. Using survival analyses, we examined how children’s anger and sadness were related to their giving up during the challenging task, and whether those relations were moderated by age. Using hidden Markov models (HMMs), we examined how children transitioned among anger, sadness, and on-task behavior states and whether those dynamics differed with age. Survival analysis revealed that age moderated the relation between anger and giving up. Greater anger was associated with greater likelihood of giving up earlier in the task at 36 months but with lower likelihood of giving up at 48 months. HMM analyses revealed that children were more likely to transition from a Calm/On-task to Calm/Off-task state at 36 months than at 48 months; that children were more likely to remain in an Anger/On-task state at 36 months than at 48 months; and that children were more likely to transition from Calm/On-task to Anger/On-task, and from Anger/On-task back to Calm/On-task at 48 months than at 36 months. Taken together, the findings suggest that anger appraisals may facilitate children in maintaining persistence, but that this functionality may develop with age.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Age-related changes in the relation between preschoolers’ anger and persistence

Ramsook

Benson

Ram

et al. 2019

International Journal of Behavioral Development

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“…In contrast, sadness arises when an appraisal suggests that a goal has been lost or is unattainable. Although empirical work disentangling emotion regulation into specific emotions is less well developed during childhood, recent studies have demonstrated the importance for such an approach (e.g., Tan & Smith, 2018). For example, children may use different regulatory strategies depending upon whether situations evoke sadness or anger (e.g., Dennis & Kelemen, 2009; Waters & Thompson, 2014; Zimmermann & Iwanski, 2014).…”

Section: Domains Of Self-regulation: Effortful Control and Emotion Regulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early experiences of insensitive caregiving and children's self-regulation: Vagal tone as a differential susceptibility factor

2020

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A considerable body of research has linked parenting to the development of children's self-regulation. However, few studies have considered different domains of self-regulation, the effects of early caregiving behaviors, and whether or not parenting influences children equally. Towards this, the present investigation tested how early maternal insensitivity was associated with difficulties in children's effortful control in early childhood and their regulation of negative emotions during the early school years. Further, we tested whether children's resting vagal tone may operate as a susceptibility factor, consistent with differential susceptibility models. The sample included 220 pairs of mothers and their children who were assessed at 18 months, 3.5 years and 5 years of age. Laboratory visits consisted of observational paradigms and survey assessments. Early maternal insensitivity at 18 months of age forecasted difficulties with effortful control at age 3.5. Moreover, effortful control at age 3.5 was associated with greater anger, but not sadness, regulation at age 5. Consistent with differential susceptibility, children's resting vagal tone at 18 months of age moderated the role of early caregiving on children's effortful control. The findings suggest that low resting vagal tone may operate as a differential susceptibility factor in process models testing associations between early caregiving environments and children's self-regulation.

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‘We despair’: Examining the role of political despair for collective action and well‐being

Bird,

Thomas,

Wenzel

2024

Euro J Social Psych

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Anecdotally, people often report feeling despair about the political status quo. We conceptualise these feelings as political despair. But what is political despair, and what are its effects? We adapt intergroup emotion theory to analyse political despair in the context of racial inequality (Studies 1 and 2) and climate change (Study 3). Three cross‐sectional studies (total N = 866) tested the measurement of political despair (relative to anger and hope), its pattern of appraisals and outcomes for conventional and radical actions along with well‐being (stress, burnout and optimism). Structural equation modelling differentiated political despair from anger and hope and found that despair is associated with evaluations that the situation is both illegitimate and intractable (unchangeable). Moreover, political despair consistently had a negative relationship with well‐being and positive relationships with conventional and radical collective action. The results suggest political despair is negatively associated with well‐being and impact people's engagement in action for social change.

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Function of child anger and sadness in response to a blocked goal

Cited by 12 publications

References 15 publications

Age-related changes in the relation between preschoolers’ anger and persistence

Age-related changes in the relation between preschoolers’ anger and persistence

Early experiences of insensitive caregiving and children's self-regulation: Vagal tone as a differential susceptibility factor

‘We despair’: Examining the role of political despair for collective action and well‐being

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