Considering the extant literature, it is possible to draw indications on how children represent physical or psychological suffering and wellbeing states from studies focused on themes such as memory of positive and negative events, concepts of health and illness, or ability to distinguish bodily and psychological domains. However, our knowledge on children’s representation of internal states deriving from negative or positive experiences of different domains is still scarce. Therefore, we investigated how children and adults evaluate physical and psychological states of both valences on some dimensions, exploring the role of age and gender. The participants were 61 5/6-, 7/8- and 9/10-year-olds, and 20 college students. They evaluated a list of physical and psychological states of suffering and wellbeing according to their relevance, frequency, affective impact and seriousness, and justified their answers. Main results showed that wellbeing states were perceived as more relevant, less frequent and more positive than suffering states. In addition, physical states of suffering were evaluated as more relevant and serious than psychological states by 5/6-year-olds, while it was the opposite for adults. Finally, perception of relevance was positively correlated with perception of frequency and, only for suffering, with perception of seriousness. From an applied point of view, this knowledge could be helpful in devising an intervention for parents and teachers, aiming at improving adults’ abilities to relate with children taking into account how they actually perceive and evaluate events with positive or negative repercussion on their lives.
Perception of relevance, frequency, impact and seriousness of suffering and wellbeing states
RACCANELLO, Daniela;
2011-01-01
Abstract
Considering the extant literature, it is possible to draw indications on how children represent physical or psychological suffering and wellbeing states from studies focused on themes such as memory of positive and negative events, concepts of health and illness, or ability to distinguish bodily and psychological domains. However, our knowledge on children’s representation of internal states deriving from negative or positive experiences of different domains is still scarce. Therefore, we investigated how children and adults evaluate physical and psychological states of both valences on some dimensions, exploring the role of age and gender. The participants were 61 5/6-, 7/8- and 9/10-year-olds, and 20 college students. They evaluated a list of physical and psychological states of suffering and wellbeing according to their relevance, frequency, affective impact and seriousness, and justified their answers. Main results showed that wellbeing states were perceived as more relevant, less frequent and more positive than suffering states. In addition, physical states of suffering were evaluated as more relevant and serious than psychological states by 5/6-year-olds, while it was the opposite for adults. Finally, perception of relevance was positively correlated with perception of frequency and, only for suffering, with perception of seriousness. From an applied point of view, this knowledge could be helpful in devising an intervention for parents and teachers, aiming at improving adults’ abilities to relate with children taking into account how they actually perceive and evaluate events with positive or negative repercussion on their lives.
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