Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Kupasan Journal
Kupasan Journal
2.1
The importance of these social competence outcomes should not be
underestimated. Along with marking successful development and predicting later
well-being, social competence is increasingly recognized as vital to school
readiness (Carlton,Winsler1999). For example, socially competent kindergartners
are more successful than their less competent counterparts in developing
positive attitudes about and adjusting to school, and they get better grades and
achieve more
(Birch,Ladd1997,Ladd1990,Ladd,Birch,Buhs1999,Ladd,Kochenderfer,Coleman199
6). More specifically, social-emotional indicators, including positive interactions
with teachers, positive representations of self derived from attachment
relationships, emotion knowledge, emotion regulatory abilities, social skills, and
no rejected peer status, often uniquely predict academic success when other
pertinent variables, even earlier academic success, are already taken into
account
(Carlton,2000,Howes,Smith1995,Izard2001,Jacobsen,Hofmann1997,O'Neil,Welsh,
Parke,Wang,Strand,1997,Pianta1997,Pianta, Steinberg,Rollins1995,hields2001).
For example, when children enter school with friends, are well liked, are able to
make and sustain new friendships, and are able to initiate positive relationships
with their teachers, they also feel more positive about school, participate in
school more, and achieve more than children who are not described this way.
Kindergartners who are victimized by peers or are aggressive, in contrast, have
more school-adjustment problems and are at risk for a potential cascade of
problems, including school difficulties, delinquency, and drug abuse
(Gagnon,Craig,Tremblay,
Zhou,Vitaro1995,Haapasalo,Tremblay1994,Kochenderfer,Ladd1996,Tremblay,Pa
gani-Kurtz,Masse, Vitaro,Pihl1995). Because social competence is so important,
and apparently so intertwined with aspects of emotional competence, we need to
better understand its emotional prerequisites. To maximize social competence,
researchers and others must carefully scrutinize how elements of emotional
competence work together to allow preschoolers to mobilize personal and
environmental resources. First, children's emotional expressiveness is a central
aspect of their emotional competence. For example, positive affect is important
in the initiation and regulation of social exchanges; sharing positive affect may
facilitate the formation of friendships and render one more likable
(Denham,McKinley,Couchoud,Holt1990,Sroufe,Schork,Motti,
Lawroski,LaFreniere1984). Conversely, negative effect, especially anger, can be
problematic in social interaction (Denham1990,Rubin,Clark1983,Rubin,DanielsByrness1983). Children who express and experience relatively more positive
than negative emotions are rated higher by teachers on dimensions such as
friendliness and assertiveness, and lower on dimensions such as aggressiveness
and sadness. Such children also respond more pro socially to peers' emotions
and are seen as more likable by their peers
(Bower1985,Denham1986,Denham1990,Denham,Renwick,Holt1991,Eisenberg,Fa
bes,Murphy1996,Sroufeetal1984,Strayer1980).