Abstract
Preschoolers’ judgments were examined regarding the affect experienced by four participants (actor, recipient-observer, teacher, and reprimanded actor) in three social events (moral, conventional, and personal). Vignettes were presented to 42 3- to 5-year-olds in which a child performs one act pertaining to each of three social events; children then were asked to judge the affect of participants and give justifications for their judgments. Results show that preschoolers expect actors across all events to feel happy and recipient-observers in moral and conventional, but not personal, events to feel unhappy. Teachers who witness the act are expected to feel happy in personal, but not moral and conventional, events, and reprimanded actors are expected to feel unhappy across all events. Results are discussed in relation to the “happy victimizer.”
Recommended Citation
Wiersma, Noelle and Laupa, Marta
(2000)
"Young Children’s Conceptions of the Emotional
Consequences of Varied Social Events,"
Merrill-Palmer Quarterly: Vol. 46:
Iss.
2, Article 8.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/mpq/vol46/iss2/8