Children unable to tell genuine from faked sadness »

New ANU research has shown that, even by the time they leave primary school, children are unable to tell the difference between genuine and fake sadness from facial expressions. For happy facial expressions they could distinguish genuine from fake emotions to some extent. Lead researcher Dr Amy Dawel of the ANU School of Psychology said this may affect children's ability to build relationships, or leave them open to manipulation. "Being able to tell the difference between genuine and fake facial expressions is crucial to social interaction," Dr Dawel said. "If children are misinterpreting polite smiles as genuinely happy then they are not picking up important feedback on their own social behaviour. "They might think that other children find them funny, or want to make friends, when in fact they are only being polite." The study involved children and adults being shown pairs of images showing facial expressions. One depicted an expression of a genuinely-felt emotion, and the other depicted the same person faking an expression of the same emotion.