Emotional development

Emotional development
  The word emotion is a derived from the Latin
word ‘emovere’ which means ‘to stir up or
agitate or excite’.
 The mental thinking or feeling of a person at a

particular instant of time knowingly or

unknowingly is called emotion.
 Emotions are complex psychological and

biological responses consisting of subjective

feelings, physiological reactions and expressive
behaviours to internal and external stimuli.
What is emotion?
“Emotion is the all around state of the
organism marked by increased bodily activity
and strong feelings directed to some
subject.” Kimball Young
• According to crow and crow “An emotion is
an affective experience that accompanies
generalized inner adjustment and, mental
and physiological stirred up states in the
individual and that shows itself in his overt
behaviour”
 Emotional development
 Emotional development is a process that a
child develops from dependence to a fully
functioning adult and applies to most life
forms.
 Emotional development refers to the ability to

recognize, express, and manage feelings at

different stages of life and to have empathy
for the feelings of others.
 Characteristics of emotions
• The core of an emotion is feeling.
• Emotional experiences are associated with some
instincts or biological drives.
• Emotions are the products of perception.
• Every emotional experience involves several physical
and physiological changes in organism.
• The basic ways of expressing emotions are inborn and
it develops through maturation.
• Emotions rise abruptly and die slowly.
• Same emotion can be aroused by a number of different
stimuli.
• Emotions have the quality of displacement. 5
Common emotional patterns in
childhood
 • Fear
• Anger
• Jealousy
• Greif
• Curiosity
• Joy, pleasure and delight
Kinds of emotions
• Positive emotions: Pleasant emotions which
are helpful and essential to the normal
development of individual are termed a
positive emotions Eg: love, amusement,
curiosity, joy,…
• Negative emotions: Unpleasant emotions,
which are harmful to the individual’s
development are termed as negative
emotions Eg: fear, anger, jealousy, guilt etc
 How the emotions develop?
 As Spitz (1949) has observed, “Emotions are
not present ready-made from birth.
 Like any other sector of the human

personality they have to develop.”

 Emotional development is due to
 1. Maturation
 2. learning

not to either one alone.

 Stages of emotional development

• During childhood
• During adolescence
During childhood
  Early childhood:(2-5yrs/3-6yrs)
 At 24 months, delight was further
differentiated and joy appears.
 • At 5 years(60 month), fear is again

differentiated into shame and anxiety.

 Anger is again differentiated into

disappointment and envy. From delight, hope

is again differentiated.
• Child cannot control their emotional expressions in social
situations. They express their emotion at the time of the
perception.
• Emotional expressions become less diffuse, random and
undifferentiated. The emotion cannot be spread to other social
situations. There is a mixture of emotional expressions related to a
particular stimulus and cannot be differentiate it. Eg. Excitement is
accompanied by fear
• Emotions are expressed in the absence of concrete objects. In this
stage the child needn,t any physical object to express his emotions.
• Emotions are most contagious. Because children are most
suggestible and dependence on others. The emotional expressions
he share to elders.
• Cannot hide their emotions.
• As the child grows the strength and intensity of the emotion varies.
Factors affecting childish
emotionality
• Health and physical development
The children weak in somatic
structure or suffering from illness are more
emotionally upset and unstable than children
having better health.
Intelligence
 An intelligent person, with his reasoning and
thinking powers, exercise control according
to the situation and make proper use of their
emotions 15
Family:
Where the cordial atmosphere prevailed at
home, children develop positive emotions;
while conflicts and tensions in family
relationship give birth to negative emotions.
 The size of the family, socioeconomic status

of the family, parental attitude etc also

influence the emotional development of
children
School atmosphere
 The healthy and conductive atmosphere of
the school always results in the balanced
emotional development of children.
 Adolescence
1.Complexity
• An adolescent person has undergone a lot of
stress and strain-ful situations.
• We cannot understand him by his overt
behaviour.
• They learn to hide their emotions from
others.
• So it is very complex to identify the
individual.
2.Development of abstract emotions
• They needn’t any concrete objects to express
their emotions.
• It is highly individualized and can’t be
identified it proper root.
3.Emotional feelings are widened
• The social contacts of an individual are more
widen.
• He is related to classmates, elders and young
people, emotionally attached heros etc. the
influence of all these which sharpen their
emotions.
• They develops an integrity about their past
experiences and future expectations.
• So they become more patient and tolerate any
delay in their life circumstances.
4. Bearing of emotions
• They can tolerate stress and tensions in various
life situations.
• So they develop a sense of self control.
5. Capacity of sharing emotions
• They have a tendency to consider others feelings
and share their emotions to others.
• Sharing of emotions reaches its peak at this stage.
• Satisfication of others is important.
• So they engaged in the activities of others and take
role for others.
6. Loyalty expands
• Their social contact expands to neighbors
and other social organizations.
• So they maintain a loyalty towards others.
 7. Realism in emotional experiences
• He entered into the world of reality.
• He becomes aware of his strength and
weakness.
• This awareness reflect in their emotional
expressions.
8. Reviewing hopes and aspirations
• It is period of high expectation for his future.
Some realistically hard-work for it.
• So they feel a positive emotion in it.
• Others engaged in day dreams, fantasy or
remain in illusion.
• Later they became unrealistic
9. Tolerance of aloneness
• Develop a feeling of aloneness.
• So they like to be alone in homes.
10. Increased compassion
• Develops sympathy & empathy.
• Can enter into his own feelings and
appreciate the feeling of others.
Factors influencing emotional
development
 Some similarities are found between the emotional development
of parents and children. These are the hereditary factors.
 As your child develops mentally, she also becomes emotionally
matured. Psychologists say that the child’s emotions depend
upon her maturity level.
 John B. Watson, an American psychologist, has stated that
children learn from conditioning. An experiment was conducted
on a nine-month-old baby, who was shown a rat to the child
and a lot of noise was made in the background. Later it was
observed that baby started crying by merely looking at the rat.
 Likewise, if there is an expression of physical love in the family,
the baby also expresses her love by contact, kisses, or hugs.
 Children who have sound health can control their
emotions in a better way while those who remain
weak show irritability, excitement and unstable
emotions.
 Intelligent children are also emotionally stable.

Those with low intelligence are low in stability as

well.
 Relations in the family and the way they express

their emotions affect the emotional development of

a child. If the parents have stability in their behavior
and express their feelings in a balanced manner, the
children also follow in their footsteps.
 If parents are violent, children also adopt the same. If you over
pamper your children, there are chances for them turning
indiscipline and obstinate. On the contrary, if you do not show
any affection, they become introvert and submissive.
 Just like family, the society, too, influences a child’s emotional

development. If the environment is emotionally charged, the child

becomes emotionally unstable. If people are stable and have
control over their emotions, the child also remains so. They learn
to control their emotions and try to conform to socially acceptable
behaviour.
 Managing emotions for a sound physical and mental health is

necessary. When your child is emotionally charged, several

changes, like a change in pulse rate, blood circulation, stretching
of eyes, an effect on the digestive system and more, occur in the
body.