The relationship of discrepancies found in parents' appraisals of emotion and children's abilities to discriminate emotional expressions was examined among 92 6- to 6½-yr.-old kindergarten girls and their patents. Results supported the supposition that the discrepancies in parents' appraisals of emotion could reflect ineffective communication of emotion within the family. Greater discrepancies of appraisals of emotion noted in parents were associated with weaker recognition of emotional expressions by their daughters. Families present children distorted methods of expressing and interpreting feelings and a model of discrepant and nongenuine social communication.
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