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