Children’s understanding of mixed emotions across cultures

Abstract

This study investigated cross-cultural similarities and variations in children’s developing understanding of mixed emotions. Four- to 9-year-old US ( n = 56) and Chinese ( n = 98) children listened to stories in which the protagonist encountered a situation combining positive and negative components. Children were asked whether the story protagonist would feel the appropriate positive emotion as well as the appropriate negative emotion. Despite being able to recall the positive and negative components of the stories, both US and Chinese children often agreed to only one emotion. However, when children did not agree to only one emotion, US children were more likely than Chinese children to agree to both emotions, whereas Chinese children were more likely than US children to deny both emotions. Overall, the findings confirm that the recognition of mixed emotions is challenging for children under the age of 10. They also suggest, however, that mixed emotions are conceptualized differently in the two cultures: US children tend to assume that positive and negative emotions can coexist whereas Chinese children tend to assume that they neutralize each other.