Campus Access Only

All rights reserved. This publication is intended for use solely by faculty, students, and staff of University of the Pacific. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, now known or later developed, including but not limited to photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author or the publisher.

Date of Award

1999

Document Type

Thesis - Pacific Access Restricted

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Department

Communication

First Advisor

Randall Koper

First Committee Member

Carol Ann Hackley

Second Committee Member

Alan Ray

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of children's prosocial behavior and gender on their abilities to decode and encode facial expressions. Four hypotheses were addressed in this study. The first hypothesis predicted a positive correlation between decoding abilities and pro social behavior of preschool-level children. The second hypothesis made a similar prediction, but between encoding abilities and prosocial behavior. Hypothesis three predicted that female preschoolers would be more accurate in decoding facial affect than would male preschoolers. Finally, hypothesis four predicted that females would have greater success with encoding emotions than would their male counterparts. A total of 132 children from a local private preschool participated in this study. Results showed a non-significant correlation between the decoding abilities of preschoolers and their prosocial behavior. Further analysis of the data revealed a significant negative correlation between the encoding abilities and pro social behavior of preschool children. Support was found for hypothesis three, revealing that females were better decoders of facial affect than were males. Finally, statistical tests indicated that there were no significant differences between females and males and the ability to successfully encode facial expressions. The implications and limitations of the study are discussed and suggestions for future research are offered.

Pages

64

To access this thesis/dissertation you must have a valid pacific.edu email address and log-in to Scholarly Commons.

Find in PacificSearch

Share

COinS

If you are the author and would like to grant permission to make your work openly accessible, please email

 

Rights Statement

Rights Statement

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).