Children's emotion processing: relations to emotionality and aggression
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 21, 2026

Psychophysiological Assessment of the Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Childhood
Published on: February 11, 2017
David Schultz1, Carroll E Izard, George Bear
1Johns Hopkins University, USA. dschultz@umbc.edu
Abstract:
We examined the relations between emotionality, emotion processing, and aggression in 182 first- and second-grade children. Consistent with Tomkins' and Izard's theoretical predictions, emotionality correlated with emotion processing. In particular, the happiness component of emotionality correlated with emotion attribution accuracy and empathy, the anger component correlated with anger attribution bias and empathy, and the fear component correlated with fear attribution bias. Multiple emotion processing deficits--including emotion attribution accuracy, anger attribution bias, and self-report of empathy--placed children at risk for heightened levels of teacher-reported aggression. Mediational analyses revealed that an emotion processing risk index fit a model of significant partial mediation between happiness and aggression but not between anger and aggression. The results suggest the multifaceted manner in which children's emotion experiences may influence the development of aggressive tendencies.
Related Concept Videos
Socioemotional Development during Infancy
Primary Temperament Types
Stella Chess...
Physiology of Emotion
Autonomic Nervous System
The autonomic nervous system (ANS) plays a critical role in emotional responses by regulating involuntary physiological functions. It consists of two main components: the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems. The sympathetic system...
Aggression
Socioemotional Experience and Gender Development
Empathy
Facial Feedback Hypothesis

