PEER SOCIAL-STATUS AND CHILDRENS UNDERSTANDING OF THE EXPRESSION AND CONTROL OF POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE EMOTIONS

Effects of age, gender, and peer social status on children's understan ding of the regulation of positive and negative emotions were investig ated. Participants (second-, forth-, and sixth-graders) completed a So cial Emotions Questionnaire (SEQ) and responded to sociometric items. The SEQ has six vignettes describing emotion-provoking classroom situa tions: happiness, pride, sadness, disappointment, embarrassment, and a nger. Results showed that, as predicted, children reported that they w ould less openly express negative emotions. Children's views of peer r eactions to emotional expressions depended on the type oi emotion and the particular form of expression. Across emotions and forms of expres sion, girls anticipated more negative reactions from peers than boys, and rejected children expected more negative peer consequences than av erage or popular children.