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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Delinquents 'misinterpret anger' | Delinquents 'misinterpret anger' |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| Teenage boys who get into trouble with the law may find it hard to interpret social cues in others, say researchers. | |
| A Japanese study of 24 young offenders found they mistook facial expressions of disgust for anger more often than their peers. | |
| In Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health journal, the researchers said this might lead them to see a situation as more hostile than it was. | |
| One UK expert said the ability to read facial expressions was "fundamental". | One UK expert said the ability to read facial expressions was "fundamental". |
| The team showed photos of faces expressing six basic emotions to 24 incarcerated young men and the same number of youths who had not been in trouble with the law. | The team showed photos of faces expressing six basic emotions to 24 incarcerated young men and the same number of youths who had not been in trouble with the law. |
| Misrecognising an expression may lead to incorrectly feeling threatened and even to antisocial behaviour Professor Karen Pine, University of Hertfordshire | Misrecognising an expression may lead to incorrectly feeling threatened and even to antisocial behaviour Professor Karen Pine, University of Hertfordshire |
| The participants were asked to match each face with an emotion - anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, or surprise. | The participants were asked to match each face with an emotion - anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, or surprise. |
| Analysis showed the delinquent youths were more likely to mistake disgust for anger than their peers. | Analysis showed the delinquent youths were more likely to mistake disgust for anger than their peers. |
| The researchers said it was the first real evidence that young offenders may have trouble distinguishing between disgust and anger. | |
| But it supports previous work that showed children with conduct problems tend to perceive other emotions as anger. | But it supports previous work that showed children with conduct problems tend to perceive other emotions as anger. |
| And it has also been shown that juvenile delinquents often have short tempers and experience more intense anger than other children. | And it has also been shown that juvenile delinquents often have short tempers and experience more intense anger than other children. |
| Hostility | Hostility |
| Study leader Wataru Sato from Kyoto University said: "This bias towards misrecognising other emotions as anger is particularly significant because anger appears to play an important role in delinquency. | Study leader Wataru Sato from Kyoto University said: "This bias towards misrecognising other emotions as anger is particularly significant because anger appears to play an important role in delinquency. |
| "Taken together the data suggest that delinquents might be projecting their own heightened angry emotions onto others when they misperceive others' negative, but not hostile, emotional states as anger." | "Taken together the data suggest that delinquents might be projecting their own heightened angry emotions onto others when they misperceive others' negative, but not hostile, emotional states as anger." |
| Professor Karen Pine, an expert in developmental psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, said the ability to "read" a person's emotions from their facial expressions "is fundamental to us as social beings". | Professor Karen Pine, an expert in developmental psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, said the ability to "read" a person's emotions from their facial expressions "is fundamental to us as social beings". |
| Failure to understand an expression could lead to one feeling threatened without due cause, and even to antisocial behaviour, she added. | Failure to understand an expression could lead to one feeling threatened without due cause, and even to antisocial behaviour, she added. |
| "This is consistent with previous evidence and has been shown to account for some conduct problems in children." | "This is consistent with previous evidence and has been shown to account for some conduct problems in children." |
| But she stressed the latest findings should be interpreted with caution because errors were also made by the young men who had not been in trouble, albeit less frequently. | But she stressed the latest findings should be interpreted with caution because errors were also made by the young men who had not been in trouble, albeit less frequently. |
| "The delinquents also had significantly lower IQs than the control group and this alone may have accounted for their poor performance on the task," she added. | "The delinquents also had significantly lower IQs than the control group and this alone may have accounted for their poor performance on the task," she added. |