Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy.
Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy.
J Exp Child Psychol. 2023 Nov;235:105726. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2023.105726. Epub 2023 Jun 17.
Recognizing emotional expressions is a prerequisite for understanding others' feelings and intentions, a key component of social interactions that develops throughout childhood. In multisensory social environments, touch may be crucial for emotion processing, linking external sensory information with internal affective states. The current study investigated whether affective touch facilitates recognition of emotional expressions throughout childhood. Preschool children (N = 121 3- to 6-year-olds) were presented with different tactile stimulations followed by an emotion-matching task. Results revealed that affective touch fosters the recognition of negative emotions and increases the speed of association of positive emotions, highlighting the centrality of tactile experiences for socioemotional understanding. The current research opens new perspectives on how to support emotional recognition with potential consequences for the development of social functioning.
识别情绪表达是理解他人感受和意图的前提，也是儿童时期社会互动的关键组成部分。在多感官社交环境中，触觉可能对情绪处理至关重要，它将外部感官信息与内部情感状态联系起来。本研究探讨了情感触觉是否会促进儿童整个童年时期对情绪表达的识别。研究人员对 121 名 3 至 6 岁的学龄前儿童进行了不同的触觉刺激，随后进行了情绪匹配任务。结果表明，情感触觉促进了对负面情绪的识别，并加快了对正面情绪的联想速度，突出了触觉体验对社会情感理解的核心作用。本研究为如何用潜在的社会功能发展的结果来支持情绪识别提供了新的视角。
