emotional development Flashcards
functionalist perspective of emotional development
emotions are the results of individuals attempts to adapt to specific contextual demands
emotions are linked with an individuals goals
- overcome obstacles to obtain goal = happy
- fail to achieve goal = sad
emotions play a role in obtaining & maintaining relationships
social cues play a role in regulating emotional perceptions & expressions
genetic maturation/biological perspective of emotions
emotions are partly innate & stem from bio factors
all children go through a similar & predictable sequence but speed differs
learn perspective of emotions
different emotions and the way children express them have different starting ages
parents influence the expression of emotions by rewarding/punishing certain emotions
e.g. react with enthusiasm when child laughs = laughs more often
primary emotions
surprise, interest, joy, anger, sadness, fear & disgust
appear between birth-6 months
birth - 6 weeks (emotions)
from birth: reflex smiles/laughs
4-6 weeks: social smiles & joy
2-6 months (emotions)
people, faces & high-pitched voices almost always provoke laughter
modify their emotional expressions in response to parents emotional expressions
selective smiles, anger & sadness (3 m)
self-soothing actions (4-6 m)
surprise - from discovery that they can control objects
6-12 months (emotions)
fear (7-9m, peaks at 18m)
Duchenne smile (10 months)
better interpretation of emotional expressions (7-10 months)
separation anxiety
self-conscious emotions
require self-awareness that involves consciousness & a sense of self
jealousy, empathy, embarrassment, pride, shame & guilt
12 months - 2 years
must be able to refer to themselves & be aware of themselves as distinct from othes
2 years (emotions)
distract themselves or redirect their attention to reduce arousal
use language to define & express feeling
begin to understand emotions better - e.g. that emotions affect behavior & certain situations provoke certain emotions
2-4 years (emotions)
increase number of terms they use to describe emotions
learn causes & consequences of feelings
3 years: better able to evaluate performances = show signs of pride and shame
4-5 years (emotions)
show an increased ability to to reflect on emotions
begin to understand that the same event can elicit different emotions
understand that they need to manage emotions to meet social standards
6-9 years (emotions)
improved emotional understanding
understand that more than 1 emotion can be experienced at the same time
aware of the events leading to emotional reactions
can suppress neg emotional reactions
use self-initiated strategies for redirecting feelings
can feel genuine sympathy
emotional display rules
culturally defined rules specifying which emotions should or shouldn’t be expressed under which circumstances
must acquire & use these rules to get along with others & maintain their approval
emotional self-regulation
strategies for managing emotions or adjusting emotional arousal to an appropriate level of intensity
parental role in emotional regulation (coaching styles)
emotion-coaching: parents monitor child’s emotions, teach about emotions & how to deal with them
- children can better regulate their emotions, comfort themselves better & have less behavioral problems
emotion-dismissing: parents view their role as to deny, ignore or change neg emotions
