TOPIC 4 KEL2300 (4+0): DEVELOPMENT OF A RESILIENT INDIVIDUAL BS(PM)-PJJ Emotional Development INSTRUCTOR: SITI NOR BINTI YAACOB, PHD.

What are emotions and emotional development? Emotions are feelings, “full-body experience”, an interplay between our thoughts and physical sensations Thoughts + Body Sensations = Emotion (Birthday/Exam) (Tight muscle,Pounding heart) (Happy/Anxious) Emotional development is the emergence of a child’s experience, expression, understanding, and regulation of emotions from birth through late adolescence How growth and changes in these processes concerning emotions occur Does not occur in isolation Neural, cognitive, and behavioral development interact with emotional development and social and cultural influences, and context also play a role

Types of Emotions Anxiety  Thoughts of the future and everything that can go wrong  Racing heart, tight muscles and clenched jaw Sadness  Negative thoughts about the past  Feel tired and heavy, might cry and have trouble concentrating Anger  Focus on how your values have been attacked  Racing heart and tightness in the body Happiness  Focus on what you have gained, feel light or calm  Might laugh and smile

Types of Emotions Balance between high and low, negative and positive:

Types of Emotions High positive energy: enables you to perform well, but can’t stay in that state for ever. Sooner or later, you need to reduce the energy. Stay positive, and you will recover quickly. Dip into more negative feelings, and you will feel burnt out. High negative energy: quite an uncomfortable place to be. It feels like you are fighting for survival all the time. Again, you will have to reduce the energy at some point since it could lead to burnout.

Changes in Socio-Emotion Two rules of emotional display: Peer pressure: works on emotional regulation Gender: Boys are less likely to express fear in times of stress, e.g. fear of belittlement Prosocial RulesSelf-protective Rules Alter own displays of emotion to protect another’s feelings Masks emotions to avoid embarrassment or to protect own from potentially negative consequences

Changes in Socio-Emotion Emotional understanding can positively relate to adaptive social behavior, yet it can negatively relate to internalizing behavior such as anxiety, depression, and loneliness Knowledge of emotion can affect verbal ability, and verbal ability can affect achievement E.g. Children who do not learn to regulate emotions and who display disruptive behavior in school spend less time on tasks and receive less instruction and less positive feedback

Managing Emotion How people recognize, label, and control the expression of their emotions in ways that generally are consistent with cultural expectations Includes recognition and delineation of emotions Use various techniques to self-regulate as getting mature Learn how to alter how they express emotions to suit what they feel others expect them to express: Emotional Display Rules

Managing Emotion The first step is to figure out what you are feeling from four main emotions The second step is to identify the message of your emotion:  Anxiety: What am I afraid of?  Sadness: What have I lost?  Anger: How have I or my values been attacked?  Happiness: What have I gained? The last step is to take action: give self-confidence to work hard in solving the problem

Managing Emotion Exercise Be kind to others Be open and accept what is going on around you It’s good to talk Distract yourself Don’t give in to negative thinking Spend time outside Be grateful Play to your strengths Notice the good things in your life

Emotion As Predictor to Behavior