Facial morphology and children's categorization of facial expressions of emotions: A comparison between Asian and Caucasian faces

The effects of Asian and Caucasian facial morphology were examined by havin g Canadian children categorize pictures of facial expressions of basic emot ions. The pictures were selected from the Japanese and Caucasian Facial Exp ressions of Emotion set developed by D. Matsumoto and P. Ekman (1989). Sixt y children between the ages of 5 and 10 years were presented with short sto ries and an array of facial expressions, and were asked to point to the exp ression that best depicted the specific emotion experienced by the characte rs. The results indicated that expressions of fear and surprise were better categorized from Asian faces, whereas expressions of disgust were better c ategorized from Caucasian faces. These differences originated in some speci fic confusions between expressions.