The Relationship between Emotional Functioning and and Social Competence of a Child
This article is more of a research paper and review on previous studies than new experimental findings. This paper tries to make a connection between emotional functioning and social competence (popularity) of a child.
The definition used in this paper of social competence is "the
ability to be effective in the realization of social goals." This can also be viewed as the ability to influence peers and their activities. Peers of the children were chosen as the source of competence evaluations. This research was based on six different emotional functions and abilities. Children's understanding of emotions, their identification of their own emotions, emotion regulation, practice of emotion display rules, their sympathetic response, and their mood states.
Understanding of emotions seems very closely correlated to peer social status of a child. The ability to understand emotions also implies the ability to judge the social context in many situations, allowing the child to make "relevant comments and [engage] in group-oriented behavior." This ability allows the child to "engage successfully in cooperative play for sustained periods of time."
There was no direct evidence that the ability to identify one's own emotion has an impact on social competence of a child. However, it is logical that being able to identify one's own emotions would help understand the emotional states of others.
Emotion regulation also seems to play a key role in the social competence of a child. Most children realize that they are in charge of their emotions and that emotions can be altered. As children get older, successful play will require more self control because there will be many situations where "negotiation of conflict" is necessary. Children who are able to display more self-control will be perceived as a more desirable play partners. It has also been found that "social popularity is inversely related to overt anger incidents." It seems that the more popular children are better at coping with anger inducing situations.
The concept of emotional display rules is similar to emotion regulation. Emotional display rules are the rules that are followed so as to keep the peace and balance in a social setting. Certain emotions are not appropriate for some situations. It is difficult to quantitatively assess how well a child uses emotional display rules, but it follows logically that a child who is well liked by his peers will be able to properly display or mask his emotions in a given situation.
The ability to express and control our own emotions is vital for our survival in society and the work place but so is our ability to understand, interpret, and respond to the emotions of others. Salovey and Mayer proposed a model that identified four different factors of emotional intelligence (Cherry, 2015).
There are few fields within the child development science. One of them is represented by the psychoanalytical theory, which looks at the child emotional development within the context of social interaction and early attachments. This framework is called psychosocial as it looks on the emotional and social aspects. Running in parallel and influencing each other there are two more main areas, cognitive and physical. Although I am focusing on the aspects of the psychosocial development, it is important to remember that all these areas are being affected one by the other, where the development of the emotional skills plays central role in a regular development of cognitive and physical skills.
Children have a way of not being able to express themselves fully so being able to help them understand their emotions. Vision My vision as a practitioner scholar in the field of psychology lies in clinical counseling. As a clinical counselor I observe people around me and try to as well understand their actions and why they react the way they do in certain situations. The more I realized that I like to help people with their problems, the more I realized that I was in the right field to help people understand their own life better.
Empathy is a really important aspect in a child’s life, as it helps them understand their emotions, increases prosocial behavior, as well as helps preschoolers understand others emotions while interacting with their peers. Facial expressions are another part of child’s understanding of what’s going on with another person’s emotions. An encouragement for the child during preschool years is crucial in order for the child to learn and regulate certain behaviors. However, during the preschool years children are able to communicate a limited amount of emotions they are feeling through the help of the teachers, and by interacting with their peers (Prosocial Behavior, 2002) As the child is growing they will interact more with peers, which will lead them to understand their interests and abilities. They are able to communicate their likes and dislikes during the preschool stage. During the early years many theorists had suggested that young children are too egocentric, and cannot understand or perform empathy (Bierhoff, 2002). However, recent studies have clearly stated that young children are capable of displaying many different types of behaviors, which show empathy towards others, and motivates them to have a prosocial behavior. However, it is a challenge for preschoolers to communicate while showing empathy, as they have limited amount of language they can use. A very common way of knowing whether a preschooler is showing empathy is by observing their reaction to another child’s stress (Prosocial Behavior, 2002).
“Emotional regulation can lead to more fulfilling social experiences. Children of the same age argue on about the same socio-cognitive and moral level, face the same transitions and life events. These similarities are expected to improve their understanding of their peers’ situation, perhaps to some extent independent of inter-individual differences due to level of development, personality, or upbringing. The second reason follows from the fact that peers form a group. Being together with a group of likeminded peers should intensify some of the emotions children experience.” (Salisch, 2001) The group they formed was a good social experience for them. Without the group I think the boys would not have gone on to do great things if they had not had the
Also children as young as 3 or 4 years of age are able to recognize basic emotions in music (Cunningham & Sterling 1988). Emotional contagion it has been argued, facilitates the mother-infant bond (Darwin 1872), as well as social interaction in general terms (Preston & de Waal 2002). In support of this, this emotional contagion seems to create liking and affiliation (e.g. Lakin et al. 2003) which is perhaps beneficial for social interaction (Juslin, P.N. and Vastfjall D., 2008, p.565).
Personal, social and emotional developments (PSED) are acknowledged as one of the starting point of accomplishment in life. PSED is about the whole child, how they are developing now, what they can do to reach their goals but also contribute to their community and how children perceive their identity and ability, understand their relation to the others in the society and apprehend their own and others’ feelings. PSED are a part of children’s development where they will be able to communicate effectively and be able to develop positive behavior among themselves and to others. According to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), PSED is consists of three aspects which are self-confidence and self-awareness, managing feelings and behavior and making relationships (DfE, 2012). In this essay, I will discuss the factors that influence children’s behavior , theories of personal social development and the strategies to develop the positive behavior in children to promote PSED, transition and inclusion.
Emotional intelligence is the subset of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions. (Ledlow & Coppola,
An individual’s ability to control and express their emotions is just as important as his/her ability to respond, understand, and interpret the emotions of others. The ability to do both of these things is emotional intelligence, which, it has been argued, is just as important if not more important than IQ (Cassady & Eissa, 2011). Emotional intelligence refers to one’s ability to perceive emotions, control them, and evaluate them. While some psychologists argue that it is innate, others claim that it is possible to learn and strengthen it. Academically, it has been referred to as social intelligence sub-set. This involves an individual’s ability to monitor their emotions and feelings, as well as those of others, and to differentiate them in a manner that allows the individuals to integrate them in their actions and thoughts (Cassady & Eissa, 2011).
It discusses how children are born with that needs to connect with individuals around them. Teachers and providers create positive relationship with children from birth through the early years. The foundation for that healthy social and emotional development because it affects her children see the world, express themselves, manages their emotions, in establishing a positive relationship with others. There were several areas of development that included social interactions that focus on the relationship that we share and include relationship with adults and peers. Emotional awareness recognized and understands your feelings and actions of other people, and self-regulation where you have that ability to express your thoughts, feelings, and behavior in a socially appropriate way. There were many tips that were listed when working with infants from talking and reading, having that warm, responsive, and consistent care, maintaining predictable routines, and getting to know each child while following their lead. The importance of supporting children and developing social skills is critical for learning, happiness, and long-term. This development begins during infancy and can be supported through simple social games, emotional role model, and imitating an infant's facial expression and sounds. The importance of social-emotional development and toddlers makes an impact in a child life when these skills are developed starting in infancy. Encouraging positive behaviors and using positive discipline practices that helped to develop the ability to make good choices as well as recognizing the confidence that is built when these behaviors are repeated. This is a process for young children to learn these behaviors always remembering that a patient response will help especially when the behaviors are
The scope of emotional intelligence includes the verbal and nonverbal appraisal and expression of emotion, the regulation of emotion in the self and others, and the utilization of emotional content in problem solving. (pp. 433)
Early childhood reveals a distinctive opportunity for the foundation of a healthy development and a time of immense growth and of helplessness. In early childhood, children begin to learn what causes emotions and begin noticing others reactions to these feelings. They begin to learn to manage and control their feelings in self regulation. Emotional self regulation refers to the strategies used to adjust emotions to a contented level so goals can be accomplished. This requires voluntary, effortless management of emotions (Berk, 2007). Promoting young children’s social-emotional development is essential for three interconnected reasons: Positive social-emotional development provides a base for life-long learning; Social skills and emotional self-regulation are integrally related to later academic success in school, Prevention of future social and behavioral difficulties is more effective than later remediation (U.S Department of Health and Human Services). Research on early childhood has highlighted the strength of the first five years of a child’s life on thier social-emotional development. Neg...
Social cognition is very important to young child’s development. A child’s key development takes place during the first five years of a child’s life. (Child Encyclopedia) A child’s environmental factors play a huge role in their mental development. Social cognition has produced a knowledge that psychologists now have a better understanding about
to do so. Emotional development consists of: being able to discuss their feelings when they are
The concept of Emotional Intelligence was developed for the first time by two American university professors Peter Salovey and John Mayer, they concluded that people with high emotional quotient are supposed to learn more quickly due to their ability. In their article on Emotional Intelligence, they have defined Emotional Intelligence as “the subset of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one 's own and others ' feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one 's thinking and actions”. (Salovey & Mayer, 1990; Mayer & Salovey, 1993) but subsequently Salovey and Mayer came up with more simplified definition of Emotional Intelligence which means it is “The ability to perceive emotion,