Understanding mixed emotions and moral emotion attributions in children aged 5–6 years

Infants are likely to attribute positive emotions to a victimizer, which is called the Happy Victimizer phenomenon. The present study explored how the relationship between the Happy Victimizer phenomenon and understanding of mixed emotions changes across different contexts among preschoolers in children aged 5–6 years (N = 37, M = 72.62 months, SD=3.72). Understanding of mixed emotions was assessed through children’s explanations of non-moral situations. Participants were also asked to attribute situations to the moral-victimizer wherein the victimizer’s motivations or moral rules were emphasized. The children were asked to judge how the victimizer felt, report any additional emotions the victimizer may have felt, and judge the levels of these two emotions. Results indicated that understanding mixed emotions was positively related to moral emotion attributions. Moreover, understanding mixed emotions was related to attributing negative emotions to the victimizer during recall of moral rules. The importance of context in Happy Victimizer scenarios and suggestions for future research are discussed.