The development of display rule knowledge: linkages with family expressiveness and social competence

The development of display rule knowledge and its associations with family expressiveness (Study 1) and peer competence (Study 2) were investigated among elementary school children. In Study 1, the display rule knowledge of 121 kindergartners and third graders was assessed using validated hypothetical scenarios. There were significant grade differences in display rule knowledge such that third graders compared to kindergartners more frequently combined expression regulation with prosocial reasoning, norm-maintenance, and self-protective motives. Maternal reports of family emotional climates indicated that aspects of negative expressiveness were related positively to self-protective display rules and negatively to prosocial display rules. Study 2 included 93 third and fifth graders who reported on their display rule knowledge and on their emotional reactions and strategies to resolve peer conflict. Classmates and teachers provided ratings on social competence. Age differences for display rule knowledge were not documented, but prosocial display rules were most consistently related to hypothetical peer conflict responses and social competence. The findings confirm that display rule knowledge is related in consistent and systematic ways to what children learn within the family emotional context, how they propose to resolve peer conflict, and how they are perceived by peers and teachers.