Abstract
The primary purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between adults’ emotional intelligence and knowledge of children’s social-emotional competence (SEC). A secondary purpose was to explore relationships between child care workers’ education, time spent working in child care, and their knowledge of children’s social-emotional competence. Participants included adult male and female child care workers (n = 95) as well as adults who were not employed in child care (n = 76). Participants were administered a self report emotional intelligence scale and an instrument that assessed their knowledge of children’s SEC. Findings revealed a significant positive relationship between emotional intelligence and knowledge of children’s SEC for all participants. For child care workers, level of education was not related to knowledge of children’s SEC, and time spent working in child care was significantly negatively related to knowledge of children’s SEC. Emotional intelligence training is implicated as a way to help early childhood educators become more effective at fostering children’s emotional development.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahn, H. J. (2005). Teachers’ discussion of emotion in child care centers. Early Childhood Education Journal, 32, 237–242. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-004-1424-6.
Ahn, H. J., & Stifter, C. (2006). Child care teachers’ response to children’s emotional expression. Early Education and Development, 17(2), 253–270. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15566935eed1702.
Ashiabi, G. S. (2000). Promoting the emotional development of preschoolers. Early Childhood Education Journal, 28, 79–84. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1009543203089.
Barrera, M. E., & Maurer, D. (1981). The perception of facial expressions by the three-month-old. Child Development, 52(1), 203–206. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15566935eed1702_3.
Burchinal, M. R., Cryer, D., Clifford, R. M., & Howes, C. (2002). Caregiver training and classroom quality in child care centers. Applied Developmental Science, 6, 2–11. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532480xads0601_01.
Conners-Burrow, N. A., Patrick, T., Kyzer, A., & McKelvey, L. (2017). A preliminary evaluation of REACH: Training early childhood teachers to support children’s social and emotional development. Early Childhood Education Journal, 45, 187–199. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-016-0781-2.
Denham, S. A., Bassett, H. H., & Zinsser, K. (2012). Early childhood teachers as socializers of young children’s emotional competence. Early Childhood Education Journal, 40, 137–143. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-012-0504-2.
Denham, S. A., Blair, K. A., DeMulder, E., Levitas, J., Sawyer, K., Auerbach-Major, S. & Queenan, P. (2003). Preschool emotional competence: Pathway to social competence?. Child Development, 74, 238–256. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00533.
Eisenberg, N., Sadovsky, A., & Spinrad, T. L. (2005). Associations of emotion-related regulation with language skills, emotion knowledge, and academic outcomes. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 109, 103–118. https://doi.org/10.1002/cd.143.
Fox, L., Dunlap, G., Hemmeter, M. L., Joseph, G. E., & Strain, P. S. (2003). The teaching pyramid: A model for supporting social competence and preventing challenging behavior in children. Young Children, 58(4), 48–52. https://doi.org/10.1002/cbl.20028.
Garner, P. W. (2010). Emotional competence and its influences on teaching and learning. Educational Psychology Review, 22, 297–321. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-010-9129-4.
Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence. New York: Bantam.
Jennings, P. A., & Greenberg, M. T. (2009). The prosocial classroom: Teacher social and emotional competence in relation to student and classroom outcomes. Review of Educational Research, 79, 491–525. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654308325693.
Kienbaum, J. (2001). The socialization of compassionate behavior by child care teachers. Early Education and Development, 12(1), 139–153. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15566935eed1201_8.
Kremenitzer, J. P. (2005). The emotionally intelligent early childhood educator. Early Childhood Education Journal, 33, 3–9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-005-0014-6.
Mayer, J. D., Caruso, D. R., & Salovey, P. (2016). The ability model of emotional intelligence: Principles and updates. Emotion Review, 8, 290–300. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073916639667.
Mayer, J. D., & Salovey, P. (1997). What is emotional intelligence? In P. Salovey & D. J. Sluyter (Eds.), Emotional development and emotional intelligence: Educational Implications. New York: Basic Books.
Mayer, J. D., Salovey, P., & Caruso, D. R. (2004). Emotional intelligence: Theory, findings, and implications. Psychological Inquiry, 15, 197–215. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327965pli1503_02.
Mayer, J. D., Salovey, P., Caruso, D. R., & Sitarenios, G. (2003). Measuring emotional intelligence with the MSCEIT V2.0. Emotion, 3(1), 97–105. https://doi.org/10.1037/1528-3542.3.1.97.
Rivers, S. E., Tominey, S. L., O’Bryon, E. C., & Brackett, M. A. (2013). Introduction to the special issue on social and emotional learning in early education. Early Education and Development, 24(7), 953–959. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2013.825364.
Roger, H., Vizioli, L., Ouyang, X., & Caldara, R. (2015). Mapping the development of facial expression recognition. Developmental Science, 18(6), 926–939. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12281.
Rosenthal, M. K., & Gatt, L. (2010). “Learning to Live Together”: Training early childhood educators to promote socio-emotional competence of toddlers and pre-school children. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 18, 223–240. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293x.2010.500076.
Salovey, P., & Mayer, J. D. (1990). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 9, 185–211. https://doi.org/10.2190/dugg-p24e-52wk-6cdg.
Schutte, N. S., Malouff, J. M., & Bhullar, N. (2009). The assessing emotions scale. In C. Stough, D. Saklofske & J. Parker (Eds.), The assessment of emotional intelligence (pp. 119–135). New York: Springer.
Schutte, N. S., Malouff, J. M., Hall, L. E., Haggerty, D. J., Cooper, J. T., Golden, C. J., & Dornheim, L. (1998). Development and validation of a measure of emotional intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences, 25, 167–177. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0191-8869(98)00001-4.
Vesely, A. K., Saklofske, D. H., & Leschied, A. D. W. (2013a). Teachers—The vital resource: The contribution of emotional intelligence to teacher efficacy and well-being. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 28, 71–89. https://doi.org/10.1177/0829573512468855.
Vesely, C. K., Brown, E. L., & Mahatmya, D. (2013b). It takes two: Sensitive caregiving across contexts and children’s social emotional and academic outcomes. Early Education and Development, 24(7), 960–978. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2013.825185.
Zigler, E., Gilliam, W. S., & Barnett, W. S. (2011). The pre-K debates: Current controversies and issues. Baltimore: Brookes Publishing.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Appendix
Appendix
Opinions About Young Children Survey (OYC)
Below are some statements about young children. Read the statement and decide whether you strongly disagree, disagree, agree, or strongly agree with the statement. Please circle “1” if you strongly disagree with the statement, circle “2” if you disagree with the statement, circle “3” if you agree with the statement, and “4” if you strongly agree with the statement.
Please give the response that best describes your opinion.
-
1 = strongly disagree.
-
2 = disagree.
-
3 = agree.
-
4 = strongly agree.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Walton, G.E., Hibbard, D.R. Exploring Adults’ Emotional Intelligence and Knowledge of Young Children’s Social-Emotional Competence: A Pilot Study. Early Childhood Educ J 47, 199–206 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-017-0887-1
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-017-0887-1