Abstract
The aim of this study was to examine the development of young children's knowledge about anger and sadness. As a sample, 123 children, 4 to 6 years of age, were asked about the situations in which they had experienced each of the two kinds of emotion. A categorical system to classify the obtained situations was constructed for each emotion. Using this categorical system, their developmental changes were analyzed. The main results were as follows: (1) Children tended to mention experiences of sadness more than those of anger. Five-year-olds tended to refer to sadness and anger experiences more than 4-year-olds did. (2) Five-year-olds tended to say aggressive behavior as experiences of anger and ill-natured behavior as experiences of sadness more than 4-year-olds did. These results suggest that (1) Five-year-olds and elementary school children were more likely to explain anger and sadness than 4-year-olds were and that (2) Young children's emotional experiences differ from those of adults.
