How does emotional development occur in childhood?

In the last decade, the boom in the study of emotions and their influence on the psychological well-being of the human being has revolutionized the conception of these giving them a role as fundamental as cognitive processes had at the end of the Last century.

But... How does the maturation of this capacity occur in the human being during the first years of life?

What is meant by emotional development?

Since emotional development is a phenomenon that consists of many components, therefore when its description and conceptualization is carried out should be addressed to the following axes:

• How emotions arise.
• What it consists of and how emotional reactivity is produced in relation to one's temperament.
• The evolution of emotional expression according to the stages of development.
• How the development of self and emotional hetero-consciousness occurs.
• What mechanisms are put in place in emotional self-regulation.

Since the human being is a social being, In its nature, both emotional and social development are linked

; through the first, the second is achieved, since from the identification, experimentation and communication of emotions (expression and understanding) and through empathy and training in social skills (both key elements of emotional development), there may be the establishment of social relationships between the individual and the rest of the beings that surround.

All this is also possible at the same time that language development takes place, which is essential to achieve this interpersonal link through communicational processes.

• Related article: "10 surprising psychological facts about feelings and emotions"

Emotional development in early childhood

As mentioned above, the ultimate purpose of emotions refers to issues related to communication between individuals. It could be said, therefore, that it presents an adaptive function to the environment and motivates the individual's behavior to achieve certain objectives.

In the process of emotional development, so complex and multifactorial, the little one begins in the first months of life some incipient associations between the external situations that occur and the resulting emotional reactions observed in the figures caregivers. At six months a baby can respond to displays of affection with positive emotions, as well as potentially dangerous situations with other less pleasant emotions.

Still, her understanding of the relationship between behavior and emotional state is very limited: her emotional reactivity maintains a very close relationship with the child's temperament, with which the level of internal emotional self-control is very low during this stage, being the caregivers who enable.

The symbolic game and the affective bond

The most relevant milestone that will mark a before and after in the child's emotional development will be the achievement of symbolic play capacity, usually around two years of life. At this time begin to represent their own and others' emotional states through language, which implies the previous step to the development of empathy.

The affective bond established between the attachment figure and the child becomes a fundamental factor in the child's emotional development during this first developmental stage. That the child perceives security, trust, affection, care and protection from the parents (or caregivers) will be essential to avoid the formation of a rejection and avoidance functioning towards these figures. This type of resistant or ambivalent bonding pattern becomes a risk factor in the subsequent appearance of psychopathologies or future emotional alterations.

• Related article: "Harlow's experiment and maternal deprivation: replacing the mother"

... and in adolescence

Despite the beginning of adolescence indicates the consolidation of the emotional development of the individual, where the understanding of one's own and others' emotional states is carried out in a more satisfactory and deeper way, its The application is not complete since the very processes involved in this vital stage make the manifestations of the disease difficult. first.

During adolescence, boys carry out cognitive reasoning through hypothetical-deductive logic, from which they compare and base their understanding and emotional expression in previous personal experiences that provide them with enough information to correctly interpret said new situation to which they are face.

On the other hand, although sharpen your empathic capacity, also they are characterized by a psychological egocentrism For which they are very focused on the image of themselves that is transmitted to others and the type of evaluations that other respects of their personal characteristics can make. Therefore, one of the main goals lies in the work and maintenance of a selfconcept positive to offer themselves and others.

In addition, due to the fact that at the neuroanatomical level the adolescent brain is not yet fully completed (especially with regard to structures and synapse prefrontal refers, which are responsible for decision-making and ensuring the expression of mature or adult behavior) in adolescence a great variability takes place in quality and intensity of emotional expression, as well as little flexibility in endogenous emotional self-regulation, which is why the transition to opposite moods in very short periods of time is frequent, the so-called emotional lability.

The role of the school environment

Parallel to the family context, the school also becomes a very important socializing agent for the child and plays a very relevant role in the child's emotional development.

Thus, the current school It is not only understood as a transmitter of instrumental and technical knowledge, but it is also among its main functions to educate the student in the acquisition of values ​​and ethical and moral principles, in promoting the achievement of critical reasoning, in the assumption of appropriate modes of behavior and attitudes to live in society (achieving their understanding), in the learning a series of skills and social skills that allow them to establish satisfactory interpersonal bonds and even in the resolution of vital problems.

To consolidate all these aspects, it is essential to achieve adequate emotional development, since in every psychological process both the cognitive aspect and the one related to the emotions.

On the other hand, achieving adequate emotional development also enables the child to adopt an optimistic attitude in the achievement of academic objectives and a self-perception of more adaptive school competence, which results in the promotion of a more manifest achievement motivation that facilitates the maintenance of that state of motivation and volition to improve their ability to learning. All this makes them more resistant and less vulnerable to criticism and social comparisons that, although carried out unconsciously, are established in relation to the results obtained by the child and by the equal.

The attributional style

Another very relevant aspect in which the school has a considerable responsibility is in the establishment of the attributional style of the students. The attributional style is defined as the process by which the individual gives cause to the situations he faces.

An internal attributional style indicates that the person knows himself as an active agent of what happens in his environment and understands the motivations that these arouse as controllable. An external attributional style is identified with more passive subjects, who have the conception that factors such as luck are those that motivate the situations they experience. Without a doubt, the former is more psychologically appropriate and the one that is most closely related to satisfactory emotional development.

• You may be interested: "Fundamental Attribution Error: pigeonholing people"

Emotional intelligence

In recent times, a paradigm shift has taken place regarding the importance of promoting emotional intelligence it means. We begin to have empirical evidence, therefore, that emotional intelligence has a very strong influence when making everyday decisions, on the nature of interpersonal relationships or on the acquisition of a deeper and more complete self-knowledge about oneself.

Being such a complex competition, its development takes place gradually and slowly, covering approximately the first two vital decades. For this reason, the achievement of an adequate establishment during childhood and adolescence will be decisive in the emotional (psychological) functioning in adult life.

Bibliographic references:

• Bach, E., & Darder, P. (2002). Seduce yourself to seduce: live and educate your emotions. Barcelona: Paidós.

• Berk, L. (1999). Child and adolescent development. Madrid: Prentice Hall Iberia.

• López, F., Etxebarría, I., Fuentes, M.J., Ortiz, M. J. (Cood.) (1999) Affective and social development. Madrid: Pyramid.

• Trianes, M.V., and Gallardo, J.A. (coord.) (2000). Educational and Developmental Psychology. Pyramid.