Carroll E. Izard

The psychology of emotions

1: On The Origins and Functions of Emotions.- 2: Defining Emotions and Their Relations to Cognition, Action, and Personality.- 3: Emotions, Consciousness, and Emotion-Cognition Relations.- 4: Interest-Excitement: Activation, Expression, and Experience.- 5: Interest-Excitement: Development, Social Relations, and Personality.- 6: Enjoyment-Joy: A Force for Psychological Well-Being and Social Bonds.- 7: Joy: Empirical Studies.- 8: Surprise-Astonishment.- 9: Sadness.- 10: Sadness in Grief and Depression.- 11: Anger.- 12: Disgust and Contempt.- 13: Fear and Anxiety.- 14: Shyness.- 15: Shame.- 16: Guilt, Conscience, and Morality.- 17: Love.- Epilogue.- References.- Author Index.

Innate and universal facial expressions: Evidence from developmental and cross-cultural research.

The idea of innate and universal facial expressions that have links with human emotions was given the status of scientific hypothesis by Darwin (1872/1965). Substantial evidence, old and new, supports his hypothesis. Much of the evidence is independent of language, but Russells (1994) criticisms of the hypothesis focus on language-dependent data. In this article, it is argued that Russells critique was off target in that his arguments relate only to a hypothesis of the universality of semantic attributions and overstated in that he used questionable logic in designing studies to support his claims. It is also argued that Russell misinterpreted the relation between the universality hypothesis and differential emotions theory. Finally, new evidence is presented that supports the Darwinian hypothesis of the innateness and universality of the facial expressions of a limited set of emotions and the efficacy of the most commonly used method of testing it.

Emotion Knowledge as a Predictor of Social Behavior and Academic Competence in Children at Risk

Following leads from differential emotions theory and empirical research, we evaluated an index of emotion knowledge as a long-term predictor of positive and negative social behavior and academic competence in a sample of children from economically disadvantaged families (N = 72). The index of emotion knowledge represents the childs ability to recognize and label emotion expressions. We administered control and predictor measures when the children were 5 years old and obtained criterion data at age 9. After controlling for verbal ability and temperament, our index of emotion knowledge predicted aggregate indices of positive and negative social behavior and academic competence. Path analysis showed that emotion knowledge mediated the effect of verbal ability on academic competence. We argue that the ability to detect and label emotion cues facilitates positive social interactions and that a deficit in this ability contributes to behavioral and learning problems. Our findings have implications for primary prevention.

Emotions and emotion regulation in developmental psychopathology

The understanding of emotions possesses important implications for elucidating normal as well as abnormal development. The contributions that the emotions have made for enhancing our understanding of psychopathology have been evident throughout history. In this article, an overview of the historical links between the emotions and psychopathology is presented. Despite its rich history, much contemporary theory and research on emotions has been conducted primarily within a nonpathology perspective. In recent decades, investigators have become more interested in examining the role and development of the emotions in atypical populations. It has been argued that the modularity of the emotions system requires a developmental model of emotion regulation.

Kindergarten children's emotion competence as a predictor of their academic competence in first grade.

This study examined the relation between emotion competence and academic competence and three potential mediators of this relation. In kindergarten, 193 children from elementary schools serving urban, minority, and low income students participated in an emotion competence assessment, and 142 of these children completed a follow-up assessment in first grade. The relation between teacher ratings of emotion regulation and academic competence was primarily indirect through the effect of emotion regulation on teacher ratings of attention. Peer acceptance and teacher closeness did not mediate the relations between emotion competence and academic competence. Results highlight the potential benefits of early emotion-centered prevention programs and the need to identify children with attention problems as early as possible to prevent academic difficulties.

Family Instability and the Problem Behaviors of Children From Economically Disadvantaged Families

This longitudinal study examined the relation between family instability and the problem behaviors of children from economically disadvantaged families. Family instability was assessed when the children were ages 5 and 7 and included number of residence changes, changes of intimate caregiver relationships, and recent negative life events. The results showed direct concurrent relations between family instability and preschool childrens externalizing behavior in the context of other family process variables, relations between subsequent family instability and 1st-grade childrens internalizing behavior (i.e., with preschool behavior ratings controlled), and an effect for persistent instability across grade. Moderator effects were also found for child variables, including gender, temperamental adaptability, and prior externalizing scores.

The Many Meanings/Aspects of Emotion: Definitions, Functions, Activation, and Regulation

Many psychological scientists and behavioral neuroscientists affirm that “emotion” influences thinking, decision-making, actions, social relationships, well-being, and physical and mental health. Yet there is no consensus on a definition of the word “emotion,” and the present data suggest that it cannot be defined as a unitary concept. Theorists and researchers attribute quite different yet heuristic meanings to “emotion.” They show considerable agreement about emotion activation, functions, and regulation. The central goal of this article is to alert researchers, students, and other consumers of “emotion” research to the multiple meanings or aspects that distinguished scientists attribute to ”emotion,” increase appreciation of its interesting and challenging complexity, and sharpen perspectives on “emotion” and the associated body of literature that is of critical significance to science and society.

Accelerating the development of emotion competence in Head Start children: Effects on adaptive and maladaptive behavior

Separate studies of rural and urban Head Start systems tested the hypothesis that an emotion-based prevention program (EBP) would accelerate the development of emotion and social competence and decrease agonistic behavior and potential precursors of psychopathology. In both studies, Head Start centers were randomly assigned to treatment and control/comparison group conditions. In Study 1 (rural community), results of hierarchical linear modeling analyses showed that compared to the control condition (Head Start as usual), EBP produced greater increases in emotion knowledge and emotion regulation and greater decreases in childrens negative emotion expressions, aggression, anxious/depressed behavior, and negative peer and adult interactions. In Study 2 (inner city), compared to the established prevention program I Can Problem Solve, EBP led to greater increases in emotion knowledge, emotion regulation, positive emotion expression, and social competence. In Study 2, emotion knowledge mediated the effects of EBP on emotion regulation, and emotion competence (an aggregate of emotion knowledge and emotion regulation) mediated the effects of EBP on social competence.

Emotion knowledge in economically disadvantaged children: Self-regulatory antecedents and relations to social difficulties and withdrawal.

We examined the relations of verbal ability and self-regulation in preschool to emotion knowledge in first grade, and concurrent relations between emotion knowledge and indexes of social functioning in 143 children from low-income families. After controlling for childrens verbal ability in preschool, teacher reports of attentional control and caregiver reports of behavioral control in preschool predicted childrens emotion expression knowledge and emotion situation knowledge 2 years later. After controlling for verbal ability and attentional and behavioral control, childrens emotion knowledge predicted concurrent teacher-reported social problems and social withdrawal. Results suggest that low levels of emotion knowledge co-occur with many important aspects of childrens early social adaptation.

Modeling Emotional, Cognitive, and Behavioral Predictors of Peer Acceptance

Integrating principles of differential emotions theory and social information-processing theory, this study examined a model of emotional, cognitive, and behavioral predictors of peer acceptance in a sample of 201 early elementary school-age children (mean age = 7 years, 5 months). A path analytic model showed that social skills mediated the effect of emotion knowledge on both same- and opposite-sex social preference, but social skills and verbal ability were more strongly related to opposite-sex peer acceptance. These findings suggest that adaptive social skills constitute a mechanism through which children express their emotion knowledge and achieve peer acceptance. Results also supported findings of previous studies that showed that emotion knowledge mediated the effect of verbal ability on social skills. Findings from the present study have specific implications for emotion-centered prevention programs that aim to improve childrens socioemotional competence and enhance the likelihood of peer acceptance.