How emotions are represented in children's literature by wo/men writers: in emotion-specific somewhat-gendered profiles.

To test how emotions are represented in children's literature (CL), 60 top sellers books by 30 males and 30 females of various nationalities were selected, content-analysing 3 emotional episodes for each according to a detailed grid - eg., emotion Type (joy, etc.), Antecedent, Expressive-physiological reactions; role of episode characters (eg., A causes emotion X). Category analyses confirmed that CL is a powerful means of emotional literacy (descriptions are articulated, in emotion-specific profiles), but still somewhat gender stereotyped. For instance, results showed that CL characters are predominantly male (65%), mostly experiencing basic emotions (anger, sadness, etc.) rather than others (e.g., shame, surprise). Story antecedents (eg., loss) are mainly caused by others' actions. Story characters are partially gendered - eg., Joy, Fear, Anxiety, crying, vocal expressions, action tendency inhibition, and experience control characterize girls more more than boys. Men describe boys and some emotions (Anger, Fear, Disgust) more than women.