CHILDRENS VISUAL AVOIDANCE OF THREAT - A STRATEGY ASSOCIATED WITH LOW SOCIAL-CONTROL

Children watched a videotape of a child have a routine but ambiguous medical examination; tapes were varied for the presence or absence of threat as expressed facially by actors. It was hypothesized that children's visual engagement with stimulus materials (in particular, cues to threat) is influenced by their perceived social control. In Study 1, children (ages 5-10 years) were selected as either dispositionally high or low in perceived social control. In Study 2, children (ages 5 and 6 years) were experimentally primed for high or low social control. In both studies, interactions were obtained between child control and presence/absence of threat cues. As predicted, children with high versus low control showed opposite reactions to threat cues: high-control children showed high levels of visual engagement whereas low-control children showed relatively high disengagement. Visual disengagement was interpreted as facilitating short-term coping but producing negative consequences for social interaction and information acquisition.