Bodily maps of emotions across child development |
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| Authors: | Jari K. Hietanen Enrico Glerean Riitta Hari Lauri Nummenmaa |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Human Information Processing Laboratory, School of Social Sciences and Humanities/Psychology, University of Tampere, Finland;2. Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, School of Science, Aalto University, Finland;3. Turku PET Centre and Department of Psychology, University of Turku, Finland |
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| Abstract: | Different basic emotions (anger, fear, disgust, happiness, sadness, and surprise) are consistently associated with distinct bodily sensation maps, which may underlie subjectively felt emotions. Here we investigated the development of bodily sensations associated with basic emotions in 6‐ to 17‐year‐old children and adolescents (n = 331). Children as young as 6 years of age associated statistically discernible, discrete patterns of bodily sensations with happiness, fear, and surprise, as well as with emotional neutrality. The bodily sensation maps changed from less to more specific, adult‐like patterns as a function of age. We conclude that emotion‐related bodily sensations become increasingly discrete over child development. Developing awareness of their emotion‐related bodily sensations may shape the way children perceive, label, and interpret emotions. |
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