The situational antecedents of pride and happiness: Developmental and domain differences

This study examines whether young children can differentiate between the situational antecedents of happiness and pride and the effect of the type of situation on the attribution of pride. One hundred and fifty 7‐, 9‐ and 11‐year‐olds were asked to rate the extent to which two types of situations would elicit a protagonist's feelings of happiness and pride. Happy situations were expected to elicit happiness only, e.g. because the protagonist received a gift — a desirable result, but beyond his/her personal control. Achievement situations were expected to elicit both happiness and pride, e.g. because the protagonist won an award — a desirable and beneficial outcome for the agent which (s)he was responsible for bringing about. If the children could differentiate between the situational determinants of happiness and pride, they would be expected to give high ratings for pride in achievement situations only. To examine the effect of the type of situation on children's ratings for pride, discretionary moral situations were introduced in which the protagonist was performing a moral act for the benefit of a third person without personal cost (helping an old lady carry her shopping bags) or with cost (giving a sandwich to a hungry child). The results of the study revealed that only the 11‐year‐olds were able to fully differentiate between the two emotions. The type of situation affected children's ratings for pride. Children attributed less pride to the protagonist in moral situations, particularly in the cost condition, than to the protagonist in achievement situations.