Emotional Development & Temperament
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Transcript of Emotional Development & Temperament
Emotional Development&
Temperament
Modules 9-2 & 9-3
Emotional Development
Basic emotions are universal
They include happiness, fear, anger, surprise, sadness, disgust, interest, etc.
Facial expressions (also universal) are the most reliable cues
What is an emotion?
Emotions are responses, including physiological responses
Sense or experience of feeling
Leads to expression, behavior; can be a motive
Related to thoughts and beliefs as well as immediate experience
Functionalist view of Emotion
What is their purpose? Emotions are means of communicating
and play a role in relationships. They are also linked to an individual’s
goals and motivation toward progress and overcoming obstacles.
Subjective evaluation of good and bad; comparable to pain in the physical realm
Emotional Competence - Sarnii
Awareness of emotional state Detecting other’s emotions Using emotional vocabulary appropriately Empathy and sympathy Realizing that inner emotional states do not
always correspond to expression Awareness that emotional expression plays a
large role in relationships Adaptively coping with negative emotions
What is emotional intelligence (EQ)?
Gardners “interpersonal intelligence” Salovey & Mayer (1990): ability to
perceive and express emotion accurately MSCEIT (2002) Mayer-Salovey-Caruso
Emotional Intelligence Test Daniel Goleman (1995) Published a book,
“Emotional Intelligence”
What is emotional intelligence (EQ)?
Salovey & Mayer (1990): ability to perceive and express emotion accurately, including:
taking perspective
understanding the roles of emotion in relationships
using feelings to facilitate thought
managing emotions such as anger
Emotions Gone Awry
. . . Are the basis for some mental disorders. Clinical depression Bipolar disorder Anxiety disorders Intermittent explosive disorder Antisocial personality disorder
Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory of Infant & Toddler Personality
Basic Trust vs. Mistrust 1st year of life Quality of the caregiver’s behavior
Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt 2nd year of life Reasonable expectations for impulse
control
Emotional Development in Infancy
Primary emotions Emerge early in life (first year) Are culturally universal Include
• Surprise Sadness• Joy Fear• Anger Disgust
Emotional Milestones
Birth attraction & withdrawal
2-3 mos. Social smile, respond to
facial expression
3-4 mos. Laugh at active stimuli
6-8 mos. Anger, fear, attachment
8-12 mos. Social referencing
18-30 mos. Self-conscious emotions
(shame, guilt, pride)
Fear
Appears in the 2nd half of the 1st year Intensifies & remains until 18+ months Stranger anxiety is the most frequent
expression of fear Stranger & situational characteristics
Separation protest also appears Partially depends upon temperament
and experiences
Anger
Appears about 6-8 months
Generalized distress is present in young infants
Anger in older babies may be in response to frustration
Social Referencing
Reading others’ emotional cues to determine how to respond to a situation
Infants become better at this in the second year of life
We still do this as adults, e.g., panic, riots, looting, helping behavior
Regulation of Emotions
Key dimension of development Ability increases with age & development Shifts from external to internal in infancy Individuals develop strategies for this With age children develop greater capacity
to: Modulate arousal Select & manage situations Finding effective ways to cope with stress
Emotional Self-Regulation
Strategies used to adjust one’s own emotional state to a comfortable level
Young infants turn away, suck, are easily overwhelmed
Ability to self-regulate increases with brain development, experience, ability to shift attention and to move
Older infants distract themselves, leave the situation
Emotions and the Self
Self-conscious emotions:
Do not appear in animals May not be universal Require self-awareness Emerge later (1 ½ - 2 ½ years)
Self-conscious Emotions Include empathy, embarrassment, envy,
pride, shame, guilt
Involve injury to or enhancement of the sense of self
Appear as the sense of self emerges
Require adult instruction in when to feel proud, ashamed or guilty
Self-conscious Emotions
Shame, pride & guilt Pride most often occurs in response to
successful achievement Shame is a global response to a threat to the
self, also other-directed; reflects inability Guilt is in response to specific failure, reflects
culpability
These emotions serve to regulate the child’s behavior
Emotional DevelopmentSelf-conscious emotions
By age 3, these are clearly linked to self-evaluation
Parents should give feedback about performance, not the worth of the child. This causes intense self-conscious emotional experience.
Self-conscious emotions
Beginning in early childhood, shame is associated with feelings of personal inadequacy, withdrawal and depression, anger and aggression. Underuse shame in our culture
Guilt is related to good adjustment.
Reasons for guilt or shame must be considered.
Emotional Development – Ages 2-4
Emotional vocabulary expands rapidly
Come to understand causes, consequences, and behavioral signs of emotion
Emphasize external factors
Can predict what people will do based on emotion
Emotional Development – Ages 2-4
Small children do not deal well with conflicting cues (mixed emotions).
Securely attached children are advanced in emotional understanding.
Emotionally negative children experience more peer rejection.
Maternal Depression & Child Development
Babies of depressed mothers are irritable and have attachment difficulties
They sometimes withdraw into depression, or imitate parental anger
They can become impulsive & antisocial
They develop a negative world view, lack self-confidence, & perceive others as threatening
Middle & Late Childhood
Increasing awareness of the need for emotional management ability to understand complex emotions tendency to take events, situation into account
Improved ability to conceal negative emotions
Use self-directed strategies to redirect feelings: distractions, denial, redirection
Gender Differences – Emotional Expression
Elementary School Boys hide emotions like sadness more Girls hide disappointment
Adolescence Girls feel more sadness, shame, guilt Boys deny their emotions
Adolescence
Moodiness and extreme, but fleeting emotions
5th to 9th grade, 50% decrease in being “very happy”
Environmental circumstances may be more important than hormones to this process
Emotions in Adulthood
Older adults report: Fewer negative emotions Better emotional control More positive emotions
More selective social relationships
May have to do with the passage of time
Temperament
Stable individual differences in quality and intensity of emotional reaction, activity level, attention, and emotional self-regulation
New York Longitudinal Study (1956), Thomas & Chess, most comprehensive study of temperament to date• 141 children followed from infancy into adulthood
Temperament
NYLS findings
Temperament is related to whether a person will experience psychological problems
Parenting practices can modify children’s emotional styles considerably
Temperament - Dimensions
Activity level Rhythmicity Distractibility Approach/withdrawal Adaptability Attention span/persistence Intensity of reaction Threshold of responsiveness
Quality of mood
Temperament - Types Easy (40%) – quickly establish regular
routines, generally cheerful, adapts well to new experiences
Difficult (10%) – irregular, slow to accept new experiences, reacts negatively and intensely
Slow-to-warm-up (15%) – mild reactions, adjusts slowly to new experience
• (35% not classified)
Measuring Temperament
Parental interviews or questionnaires. Convenient Depth of knowledge Biased & subjective
Behavior ratings by pediatricians, teachers, and others
Observation
Is Temperament Biological?
It is often believed to be biological.
Identical twins have more similar temperaments than fraternal ones.
There are consistent ethnic and sex differences.
These may be explained by parenting differences as well as genetic differences.
Is Temperament Biological?
However, it only has low to moderate stability from one developmental period to the next.
Temperament develops with age.
It can be modified by experiences, but not from one extreme to the other.
Temperament: Continuity with Adulthood
Easy babies well adjusted in early adulthood
Difficult babies have social problems Men – less education Women – marital problems
Patterns of inhibition & emotional control also appear to persist
Temperament & Goodness-of-Fit
Creation of child-rearing environments that recognize temperament and encourage adaptive functioning.
Difficult children are at risk for adjustment problems because they withdraw and react negatively.
Western parents tend to resort to angry, punitive discipline. The child responds with defiance/disobedience. Parents give in and model inconsistency.
Kagan’s Behavioral Inhibition Shy, subdued, timid child
Vs. Sociable, bold, extraverted child
Inhibition to the unfamiliar
Begins about 7-9 months of age
Shyness is considered a negative in American culture (social anxiety).
Biological Inhibition Pattern
High, stable heartrate
High cortisol levels
High activity in right frontal lobes