Exploring the Characteristics of Self-Drawings Produced by Taiwanese and South Korean Children

This study explored the similar and different characteristics of the self-drawings produced by Taiwanese and South Korean children. The 94 participants comprised 4- and 5-year-old Taiwanese (n = 48, 24 boys) and South Korean (n = 46, 29 boys) children with comparable sociodemographic backgrounds. Three aspects of their self-drawings were quantitatively analyzed: basic figure elements, emotional expression, and visual appearance. The primary findings were threefold: (1) for the basic figure elements, the two groups of children produced similar average figure sizes, and South Korean children drew more facial details than did the Taiwanese children; (2) for emotional expression, Taiwanese and South Korean children similarly tended to draw positive emotions; and (3) specific features were observed in the visual appearances of the self-drawings of individual children. To characterize themselves, Taiwanese children emphasized diverse clothing and applied more colors, whereas South Korean children highlighted the look of their faces by drawing cartoon-like eyes and hair bangs. The results are discussed in relation to cultural beliefs and parenting practices as well as the influences of the mass media on the self-drawings of children, and their implications are proposed.