Adolescents' recognition of clear and ambiguous facial expressions of emotion (FEE) and its relationship with emotion-lexicon knowledge and with well-being.

The ability to recognize facial expressions of emotion (FEE) and its relationship with emotion-lexicon knowledge and well-being were studied in Italian adolescents (N= 300; age range: 13 to 19 yrs.) and young adults (N= 103, age range: 20 to 28 yrs.); males were 50% of the sample. Participants rated 28 pictures of FEE (e.g., Zammuner, 2008) depicting 6 basic emotions plus neutral expressions; 14 stimuli were non-prototypical, i.e., were ambiguous expressions of the target emotion. For each stimulus, participants selected which of 7 emotion-labels (e.g., anger, fear, neutral expression) best described it. Chosen labels for each stimulus were later scored for their correctness (0= wrong, 1= correct). Participants also engaged in an emotion-lexicon knowledge-task (ELK) comprising three word sets, judging each time which of three to four emotion words was related to a target emotion. Participants reported their preferences for the Emotion Regulation Strategies (ERS) of Reappraisal and Suppression, and rated their well-being (WB) as indexed by three self-report scales: Emotional and Social Loneliness, Positive and Negative felt Affect, and Life satisfaction. Several statistical analyses of participants' ratings were performed - e.g., mean frequencies; reliability and correlation analyses of scale ratings; MANOVAs to test gender and age differences. The main results showed that emotion-expression recognition (EER) (a) is greatest for happiness, surprise and disgust, least for anger and fear, (b) for prototypical expressions is greater for females than males, (c) it increases from early-middle adolescence to late adolescence and adulthood, (d) is better for prototypical than non-prototypical expressions. However, the latter differences due to FEE clarity were typically small, i.e., EER includes the ability to perceive subtle emotion cues. Participants' ELK scores were medium to high, increased with age, and were higher for females; ELK scores were significantly and positively associated with EER scores, for both prototypical and non-prototypical stimuli. Finally, participants overall reported a medium to high level of well-being, and displayed a greater preference for the Reappraisal than for the Suppression ERS. Whereas WB indexes were significantly associated one with the other in the expected directions (e.g., positive affect was associated with lesser loneliness and greater life satisfaction), WB indexes were not significantly associated with emotion-expression recognition (EER) nor with emotion-lexicon knowledge (ELK). The findings altogether support the study main hypotheses, including: (i) EER ability is fruitfully investigated using stimuli that include non-prototypical, ambiguous, facial expressions, (ii) girls and women typically display greater emotional competence than boys and men, (iii) emotional competence, present already in early adolescence, increases with age, (iv) if emotional competence is assessed with ability measures it is not related to self-perception ratings of well-being. Abstract: The ability to recognize facial expressions of emotion (FEE) and its relationship with emotion-lexicon knowledge and well-being were studied in Italian adolescents (N= 300; age range: 13 to 19 yrs.) and young adults (N= 103, age range: 20 to 28 yrs.); males were 50% of the sample. Participants rated 28 pictures of FEE (e.g., Zammuner, 2008) depicting 6 basic emotions plus neutral expressions; 14 stimuli were non-prototypical, i.e., were ambiguous expressions of the target emotion. For each stimulus, participants selected which of 7 emotion-labels (e.g., anger, fear, neutral expression) best described it. Chosen labels for each stimulus were later scored for their correctness (0= wrong, 1= correct). Participants also engaged in an emotion-lexicon knowledge-task (ELK) comprising three word sets, judging each time which of three to four emotion words was related to a target emotion. Participants reported their preferences for the Emotion Regulation Strategies (ERS) of Reappraisal and Suppression, and rated their well-being (WB) as indexed by three self-report scales: Emotional and Social Loneliness, Positive and Negative felt Affect, and Life satisfaction. Several statistical analyses of participants' ratings were performed - e.g., mean frequencies; reliability and correlation analyses of scale ratings; MANOVAs to test gender and age differences. The main results showed that emotion-expression recognition (EER) (a) is greatest for happiness, surprise and disgust, least for anger and fear, (b) for prototypical expressions is greater for females than males, (c) it increases from early-middle adolescence to late adolescence and adulthood, (d) is better for prototypical than non-prototypical expressions. However, the latter differences due to FEE clarity were typically small, i.e., EER includes the ability to perceive subtle emotion cues. Participants' ELK scores were medium to high, increased with age, and were higher for females; ELK scores were significantly and positively associated with EER scores, for both prototypical and non-prototypical stimuli. Finally, participants overall reported a medium to high level of well-being, and displayed a greater preference for the Reappraisal than for the Suppression ERS. Whereas WB indexes were significantly associated one with the other in the expected directions (e.g., positive affect was associated with lesser loneliness and greater life satisfaction), WB indexes were not significantly associated with emotion-expression recognition (EER) nor with emotion-lexicon knowledge (ELK). The findings altogether support the study main hypotheses, including: (i) EER ability is fruitfully investigated using stimuli that include non-prototypical, ambiguous, facial expressions, (ii) girls and women typically display greater emotional competence than boys and men, (iii) emotional competence, present already in early adolescence, increases with age, (iv) if emotional competence is assessed with ability measures it is not related to self-perception ratings of well-being