Shared Environment Effects on Children ’s Emotion Recognition

This study examined genetic and environmental influences on children’s ER, for the first time adding vocal to facial cues of emotion. Our results indicate that individual differences in ER by 7-year-old children are accounted for by shared and nonshared environmental variables. Moreover, the association between facial and vocal cues reflected mainly overlapping shared environmental effects. This study highlights the importance of the environment to children’s ER.Shared environment effects suggest that the family milieu plays an important role in the development of children’s ER (16), although the exact process needs further research. Moreover, the bivariate analysis indicated that shared environmental factors largely account for the association between vocal and facial ER. Across species, the social environment provides a place for training and learning about the emotional world, helped by social factors such as contact and familiarity (39). Research has shown that it is easier for individuals to identify others’ emotion expressions from their own cultural in-group (40, 41). In addition, culture may be influential through stereotypical displays found in various media (42). These archetypes provide an opportunity to gain exposure and learn about the emotional social world. Going to the family level, it is possible that differences among families in the expression of emotions affect children. These shared experiences may affect the ability to underst...
Source: Frontiers in Psychiatry - Category: Psychiatry Source Type: research