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A hidden cost of happiness in children

A hidden cost of happiness in children Happiness is generally considered an emotion with only beneficial effects, particularly in childhood. However, there are some situations where the style of information processing triggered by happiness could be a liability. In particular, happiness seems to motivate a top‐down processing style, which could impair performance when attention to detail is required. Indeed, in , 10‐ to 11‐year‐old children (N = 30) induced to feel a happy mood were slower to locate a simple shape embedded in a complex figure than those induced to feel a sad mood. In , 6‐ to 7‐year‐old children (N = 61) induced to feel a happy mood found fewer embedded shapes than those induced to feel a sad or neutral mood. Happiness may have unintended and possibly undesirable cognitive consequences, even in childhood. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Developmental Science Wiley

A hidden cost of happiness in children

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References (44)

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
© 2008 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
ISSN
1363-755X
eISSN
1467-7687
DOI
10.1111/j.1467-7687.2008.00709.x
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Happiness is generally considered an emotion with only beneficial effects, particularly in childhood. However, there are some situations where the style of information processing triggered by happiness could be a liability. In particular, happiness seems to motivate a top‐down processing style, which could impair performance when attention to detail is required. Indeed, in , 10‐ to 11‐year‐old children (N = 30) induced to feel a happy mood were slower to locate a simple shape embedded in a complex figure than those induced to feel a sad mood. In , 6‐ to 7‐year‐old children (N = 61) induced to feel a happy mood found fewer embedded shapes than those induced to feel a sad or neutral mood. Happiness may have unintended and possibly undesirable cognitive consequences, even in childhood.

Journal

Developmental ScienceWiley

Published: Sep 1, 2008

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