Biomaterial Database

The facial expression of anger in seven-month-old infants. 1983

C R Stenberg, and J J Campos, and R N Emde

This study concerned whether anger can be observed reliably in facial expressions as early as 7 months of age in a sample of 30 infants. It also assessed the influence of several variables on anger responses: infant's familiarity with the frustrator (mother vs. stranger), repetition of trials, and sex of the child. Correlations were obtained between the expression of anger and cognitive developmental level, maternal perceptions of irascibility (temperament), time since eating or sleeping, and facial flushing. Dependent variables included facial expression components as well as ratings of facial flushing. We found that the capacity to express anger is well developed by 7 months of age: facial patterning was detected reliably in the absence of contextual information, and repeated frustrations increased the amount of anger shown. No significant relationships were found, however, between facial expression of anger and temperament, drive states, or cognitive developmental scores.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007223	Infant	A child between 1 and 23 months of age.	Infants
D008297	Male		Males
D009034	Mother-Child Relations	Interaction between a mother and child.	Mother-Child Interaction,Mother-Child Relationship,Mother-Infant Interaction,Mother-Infant Relations,Interaction, Mother-Child,Interaction, Mother-Infant,Interactions, Mother-Child,Interactions, Mother-Infant,Mother Child Interaction,Mother Child Relations,Mother Child Relationship,Mother Infant Interaction,Mother Infant Relations,Mother-Child Interactions,Mother-Child Relation,Mother-Child Relationships,Mother-Infant Interactions,Mother-Infant Relation,Relation, Mother-Child,Relation, Mother-Infant,Relations, Mother-Child,Relations, Mother-Infant,Relationship, Mother-Child,Relationships, Mother-Child
D002666	Psychology, Child	Branch of psychology involving the study of normal and abnormal behavior of children.	Child Psychology,Infant Psychology,Pediatric Psychology,Psychology, Infant,Psychology, Pediatric
D004644	Emotions	Those affective states which can be experienced and have arousing and motivational properties.	Feelings,Regret,Emotion,Feeling,Regrets
D005149	Facial Expression	Observable changes of expression in the face in response to emotional stimuli.	Face Expression,Expression, Face,Expression, Facial,Face Expressions,Facial Expressions
D005260	Female		Females
D005639	Frustration	The motivational and/or affective state resulting from being blocked, thwarted, disappointed or defeated.	Frustrations
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000786	Anger	A strong emotional feeling of displeasure aroused by being interfered with, injured or threatened.	Angers