Accuracy in identifying affect in child and adult faces and voices and social competence in preschool children.

The association between social competence and preschool children's ability to identify affect in child and adult facial expressions and tones of voice was investigated in 2 studies. A Sullivan theoretical framework was used. Results indicate that gender plays an important role in the association. For boys, accuracy in identifying low-intensity adult faces and, to a lesser extent, low-intensity adult voices was related to social competence regardless of whether social competence was being measured in interactions with other children or with adults. In contrast, for girls, the ability to read high-intensity expressions across child and adult faces and voices was more specifically related to social competence, depending on whether it was defined by interactions with children or adults. Social competence at this age seems to involve different types of nonverbal skills for boys and girls.