The number of happy faces on Lego toy mini-figures has been decreasing since the 1990s, and the number of angry faces has increased, giving rise to concerns that children could be affected by the negativity of the toys.
In a study of 3,655 figures produced between 1975 and 2010, Dr Christoph Bartneck, a robot expert at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, said the manufacturer appeared to be moving towards more conflict-based themes in its toys. Bartneck’s study considered the range of facial expressions across various Lego sets – now often in themes such as Star Wars, pirates or Harry Potter.
“It is important to study how to create appropriate expressions and how these expressions are perceived by the users. Children’s toys and how they are perceived can have a significant impact on children,” said Bartneck. “We cannot help but wonder how the move from only positive faces to an increasing number of negative faces impacts on how children play.”
via Lego faces are getting angrier, study finds | Life and style | The Guardian.
children need to see happy faces to be happy themselves there is too much anger shown on the News so they do not need to see it in their toys.