Manfred Holodynski:
Am Anfang war der Ausdruck
At the Beginning was the Expression

2005, 229-249

Summary: How far human emotions are shaped by their biological or cultural inheritance has led to controversial theories. This article proposes a developmental view on modeling theories that can bridge the gap between these two controversial positions and open up new empirical opportunities for further research. Regarding this, the author presents a contextualistic theory of emotion, the internalization model of emotional development. This theory supposes that expressive reactions take on a major mediating function in the interactions between caregiver and child: They are the main means especially in early ontogenesis by which caregiver and child communicate in order to regulate their behavior mutually. It can be shown that many expression signs do not have a biological origin; they are a product of culture-historical processes of symbolization that color emotions also in a culture-specific way.

The article describes the first three stages of emotional development and presents also own studies: (1) The stereotypical precursor emotions of neonates are the starting point from which the sign mediated emotions of toddlers emerge. These emotions are already mediated by expression signs that are adaptive to the particular cultural context, but they still have an interpersonal regulation function (e. g., they are oriented toward triggering actions by the caregiver that will serve the child’s motives). (2) It is only after infancy that emotions take over an intrapersonal regulation function of triggering motive-serving actions by the child him- or herself. (3) From about the age of six years onward, expression signs start to become internalized, creating a private world of feelings that is no longer closely linked to overt expressions.

Keywords: Emotional Development, emotion regulation, nonverbal communication, parent child relations, internalization

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