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Young adults' reactions to infant crying
Christine Hechler1, Roseriet Beijers1, Carolina de Weerth1
1Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Infant Behavior & Development
|January 20, 2015
Summary
Young childless adults experience negative emotions and cognitive disturbances when hearing infant crying. These reactions suggest a general human predisposition to care for distressed infants.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Human Behavior
Background:
- Infant crying is a primary communication signal for distress.
- Previous research has primarily focused on parental responses to infant crying.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate emotional and cognitive responses of childless adults to infant crying.
- To compare these responses to other disturbing noises.
- To examine the association between emotional and cognitive disturbances.
Main Methods:
- 120 childless adults participated in the study.
- Participants completed a working memory task under various auditory conditions.
- Emotional reactions and cognitive performance were measured.
Main Results:
- Infant crying elicited the most negative emotions and impaired working memory performance compared to other noises.
- Negative emotions were linked to cognitive disturbances, except during infant crying.
- Responses to infant crying were independent of personality traits.
Conclusions:
- Negative emotions and cognitive disturbances in response to infant crying are not exclusive to parents.
- These findings suggest a universal human response to infant distress signals.
- This may indicate an innate predisposition to care for infants.
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