Abstract

The aim was to investigate some aspects of children's representation of suffering and wellbeing, in terms of physical and psychological domains, using a mainly non verbal task. We examined whether 5- and 9-year-olds identified dimensions underlying stimuli, i.e. valence (negative, positive) and domain (physical, psychological). Results suggested that valence is more salient than domain, with age differences, and supported previous studies based on methodologies involving verbal narratives, indicating an asymmetrical conceptualization: with age domain increased relevance only for suffering.