UNIT 2 (A) EMOTIONALISOCIAL

DEVELOPMENT
Structure
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Objectives
2.3 Meaning Expression and Perceptions of Emotions
23.1 Expression of Emotions
2.3.2 Prominent Features of Emotions

2.4 Emotional Development: Different Stages

2.4.1 Emotions in Infancy
2.42 Emotions in Early Childhood
2.43 Emotions in Late Childhood
2.4.4 Emotions in Adolescence
2.4.4.1 Handling Adolescents
2.4.5 Self-Conscious Emotions: Marked Feature of Middle and Late Childhood

2.5 Anger in Different Stages Childhood

2.6 Language and Emotions in Stages of Childhood
2.7 Management of Emotions -
2.7.1 Redirection
2.72 Sublimation
2.7.3 Catharsis
2.7.4 Inhibition

2.8 LetUsSumUp
2.9 Answers to Check Your Progress
2.10 References

2.1 INTRODUCTION
By now you have come to know that the shape and form of human body are the
result of physical development. However, Self Development takes place through
personal and social interactions. An individual with stable emotional pattern leads
a happy, healthy and peaceful life. Such a person is at ease with oneself and alsp
one's social surroundings.
An emotiOnaUy chtwbedperson creates problems for himselfand others. Therefore
harmonious development of one's personality depends on one's healthy emotional
development. Emotions affect all other aspects of personality. Proper training and
education in controlling emotions enables the young to lead a stable and peaceful
.&I
Emotions are the main motivating force to direct one's thoughts and behaviour.The
World Health Organization (W.H.O.) findings say, "80% diseases are caused by
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negative thoughts and negative attitude towards self and others" so managing Emotiona~ial
emotions is important for generating positive thoughts. Positive thoughts nowish Development
our minds.

In this unit we shall deal with emotions, their characteristics, effects and their
management. The unit has two parts. In this part (2A) we shall discuss the
meaning, expression and penqhons of emotions, emotional development at different
age-groups and understanding and management of emotions. In the next unit (2B)
we shall discuss social development.

2,2 OBJECTIVES
After going through this Unit, you should be able to:

dehne emotion;

discuss how emotions develop in infancy, early childhood, late childhood and
adolescence;

explain how emotions work;

describe how emotions can be managed/handled

2,3 MEANING EXPRESSION AND

PERCEPTIONS OF EMOTIONS
If you know the meaning of emotions, then it will be easy to understand emotional
development. Emotions are the most active movers of emotional development.
The word 'emotion' is derived tiom the Latin word 'emovere' which means 'to
agitate', 'to excite' or to 'stir up'. Several definitions of emotions have been given
by the writers and researchers. Kleinginna and Kleinginna (1981) have listed 92
definitions in a review. R.S. Woodworth (1972) defines, "Emotion is a 'moved
or stirred up state of feeling', that is the way it appears to the individual himself
It is a disturbed muscular and glandular activity - that is the way it appears to an
external observer."

An emotion is a complex condition underlying feelings, actions and physiological

changes as occur in fear, rage, excitement, disgust and so on. An emotion associated
with an inherited or innate psycho-physical tendency is called instinct. Instinct
determines the emotional excitement and action in a person, on perceiving any
object in a particular manner. William McDougall(2003)analyses an instinctive
behaviour, in three aspects:

(i) Cognitive or (knowing or perceptive) aspect.

(ii) Affectiye or (feeling or emotional) aspect.

(iii) Conative or (doing or behaviour) aspect.
Let us take an example: A child sees a fierce dog barking and running towards
him. He experiences an instinct of escape. He undergoes the above noted three
processes. First he perceives (danger) fiom the dog, secondly he develops emotion
of fear and thirdly he executes the behaviour of running away. 19
Self Development 2.3.1 Expression of Emotions:
Emotions affect the body systems both inwardly and outwardly. Outwardly the
feelings cast their impression an face, voice and postures and inwardly the feelings
affect rate of breathing, pulse, blood pressure and sometimes cause heart and
digestive problems. This is illustrated below through a diagram.

FIG. 2.3.1

s
External (Body changes)
EMOTIONS and BODY-CHANGES

INTERNAL (Psychological Changes)

1m
FACIAL VOICE POSTURE BLOOD PRESSURE PLTLSE-RATE BREATHING DIGESTIVE
EXPRESSIONS TONE and PITCH VAKIATIONS changes changes RATE DISORDER
changes changes

2.3.2 Prominent Features of Emotions

It is realized that emotions are integral part of one's behaviour pattern. Emotions
vary in nature. Emotions result fiom perceptions and can be aroused at all stages
of development fiom the youngest to the oldest.

The primary or basic emotion consists of six basic emotions namely: happiness,
surprise, fear, sadness, anger and disgust. These six emotions may be
conceptualized to exist on a continuum. The closer the two emotions on this
continuum, the more is the likelihood of confusion in recognizing them. For
example one gets confused in recognizing feelings of joy and surprise. Similarly
people may get c o n k e d while distinguishing between anger and disgust.
However, people quite easily discriminate between facial expressions of
happiness and disgust.
There may be different reactions to the same emotional stimuli. In some cases
it is a result of training and job requirement and in some cases it may be due
to variation in temperament/personality. Many people remain cool and tend
to hide their feelings, while there are others who tend to spill their emotions
quite often and remain agitated for quite long time.

Two persons may react to the same stimulus differently. One may be brimming
with excitement and joy while the other may be more calm and cool.
When it comes to children they fail to hide their emotions. They express them
in indirect ways like crying; nail-biting; thumb-sucking; stuttering or speech-
breaks etc.

Different jobs and professions may demand different levels of intensity of

emotional expression. A judge or a doctor may be expected to be emotionally
neutral, while a sales person or a waiter at a rated restaurant is expected to
be enthusiastic and joyous. It is also seen that the emotions are sometimes
transferred fiom one object to another, for instance an officer scolds in oilice
20 and the sufferer transfers it on wife or children at home.
 Check Your Progress 1
1. What is Emotion?
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2. What is instinct?
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3. What are the features of Emotion? Specie any two features.
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2.4 EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT:

DIFFERENT STAGES
2.4.1 Emotions in Infancy
How emotions developed during infancy have been studied extensively by the
researchers Greenspan and Greenspan (1985) who have reported milestones of
emodional development. According to them regulation and interest in the world
occurs fiom birth to three months. He/she learns to self regulate his/her emotions
and learns how to feel calm, relaxed and maintain active interest in the world that
helshe experiences through his/her experiences.Around two to seven months, the
child f d s in love, explores parents' f$cesand responds with smile and joyllness.
Around three to ten months the child develops intentional communication and
around nine to eighteen months the baby learns to connect small units of feelings.
2.4.2 Emotions in Early Childhood
According to Greenspanand Greenspan (1985) during eighteen to thuty-six months,
the child is increasingly able to express her emotions through ideas and learns to
create them in h a imagination. She is now capable of fantasy play, which reveals
wide ranges of emotions like pleasure, curiosity, anger, protest, joy, jealousy and
so on. In table 2.4.2 we have highlighted various emotions and their reactions to
respective stimulus.
Self Development Table 2.4.2

5. JOY Fun and merriment (i) Smiling

(ii) Laughing
( i i ~Raising
) anns and legs

2.4.3 Emotions in Late Childhood

According to Greenspan and Greenspan (1985), the child learns to W e r organize
and manipulate hisher emotional understanding at this stage. The emotional
experiences of hisher role play become more complex and true to real-life
situations. E.B.Hurlock (1974) has identified the following emotional patterns.

Emotional expressions are usually pleasant

Occasional outbursts of temper are also visible

Older children demonstrate anger though moodiness and silence

Girls express more feelings of fear, worries and affection

Girls dissolve anxiety and fears into tears

Popular children usually are less anxious and jealous .They curb socially
unacceptable forms of emotionalexpression.

2.4.4 Emotions in Adolescence

Emotional development continues once children reach adolescence. During this
transition period, adolescents codiont the challenges of developing automy-
the capacities to think, feel, and act on their own.

In this developmental period, teens become moody and negative. These images,
however, are accurate for only a minority of adolescents. Most adolescents cope
with the changes in emotionally positive ways. At times emotional stress is the
result of adolescents' conflicts with their parents. These conflicts fiquently occur
because adolescents strive to make independent choices and do not agree with
parents' requests and opinions redly. Emotional extremes more often cen#cm
interactions with peers, particularly romantic partners.

Depending on the unique characteristics of the young person, the availability of

pmntal support and the amount and kind of stress in an adolescent's life, some
teens are able to surmount di@~ultemotional situations, whereas others may
If not effectively dealt with, unresolved issues of emotional development can
sometimes lead to serious emotional disorders. Anxiety disorders include, among
others, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsivedisorder, and phobias and sometimes
depression.
-
Dcvdqwnent

Depression is generally characterizedby hopelessness, low seK-esteem, and sadness

which not @y affect adolescents emotionally but also their physical well-being.
Before puberty, rates of depression are low and occur equally in boys and girls.
After puberty, girls report increased depression, with rates about twice those of
boys.
2.4.4.1 Handling Adolescents
In the Indian con- a few suggestions for development of adolescents are beiig
given:-

Their sense of security and M o m are to be balanced. A sense of responsibility

should be cdtivated in them. Opportunities of sharing responsibility can work
wonders. The unspent or excess emotions may be channelized towards noble
purposes e.g. gardening, social and environmental service. Adult guidance must
not be irritating in nature and opportunities for girls and boys may be provided
for their social-mixing and proper understanding. Interest-creating assignments
and projects can be very helpll for keeping the adolescents engaged and enhancing
their interest toward work. Sex-education on scientific basis should be given.

2.4.4 Self-conscious Emotions

It is a marked feature of middle and late childhood. Around eighteen months of
age, toddlers develop self-conscious emotions, such as shame, pride, and
embarrassment. For example a toddler when he stands in front of a mirror smiles
to himself or feels shy before the Parents. Vicarious feeling is another form of
emotional responses that occurs because of exposure to someone else's emotional
state. Empathy and Sympathy are other emotions that a child displays. For example,
empathy is an emotional state that matches another person's emotional state-
feeling bad because someone else is feeling bad. In contrast, sympathy refers to
feeling sorry or concerned for others because. Empathy appears fairly early and
increases across childhood. When three-year old boy sees his mother crying, he
becomes sad and brings her his favorite stuffed animal to cheer her up. Until late
childhood children's empathetic and sympathetic responses are limited to the
feelings of .fsmiliar persons in familiar situations.

2.5 ANGER IN DIFFERENT STAGES OF

CHILDHOOD
Anger is a common emotion at any developmental period. The causes of anger,
however, change across childhood. For instance, at age five months, Rajesh a
child may become angry because he is hungry; the anger occurs because of
Rajesh's basic needs not being met. At five years of age, however, Rajesh may
become angry because his sister takes away his toy, and this anger results f?om
Rajesh's lack of control over the situation. Most of young children's angei occurs
as a result of conflicts over materials, resources, and space. With age, anger is
more likely to result fiom how one is treated. Thus,the causes of anger become
M ~ n g l social.
y
 Self Devebpcnt
2.6 LANGUAGE AND EMOTIONS IN
DIFFERENT STAGES
I
Prior to the age of two or three, c h i l w s expression of emotion occurs nonverbally,
through facial, vochl, and gestural expressions. Once children develop the ability
to use their words to express how they are feeling, they are in a better position
to express, regulate, or explain their own emotions. The increased understanding
that comes ftom the use of emotion through language promotes, maintains, and
regulates social interactions. As cognitive development become more advanced,
young children become increasingly aware of their own and others' emotions. As
a result, children begin to develop a more complex understanding of the causes
and consequences of emotions, how to control emotions, and the nature of
emotional experiences.A child's u n- of mixed d o n s does not emage
until late in childhood. Thereafk, children are capable of understanding that two
related emotions can co-exist (i.e. being both sad and afiaid at the same time).
By age ten, they are able to understqnd that mixed and unrelated emotions can
occur simultaneously (e.g., feeling both happy and sad at the same time). This
Qpe of enhanced understanding gives children a better grasp of how emotions are
tied to their social lives.

2.7 MANAGEMENT Oi;" EMOTIONS

You must have observed behaviour of those around you. People are affected by
emotions of sorrow, joy or hatred. Mood of individuals is governed by such
varied emotional feelings. Human behaviour is affected by emotions. Under the
influence of anger, jealousy and hatred it results in emotional imbalance and leads
to psych~somatic(mind-body) disMders Tension is a state of& an d d
tlneasiness.
Management of Emotions is a very delicate process. Controlling emotions by
suppression is very harmful. Modem psychologists emphasize that 'love is more
inlportant than punishment'. Emotions can be controlled by constant auto-
suggestions. Some methods for handling emotions are given below:-
2.7.1 Redirection
Emotion is dynamic in nature. It can not be suppressed My. It can be redirected
or channelized on a different track. For example you reach a remotely situated
village in Madhya Pradesh. The approach route is full of thorny plants. You get
profhe bleeding. It annoys you a lot. In stead of showing your anger on the local
guides you smile. You organize and collect the local youths. You exhort them to
uproot the thorny plants. They all work under your guidance and make a clean
and tidy approach road. Thus you have redirected your anger in a constructive
manner.
2.7.2 Sublimation
This is another form to rechannelize pent up emotions. In mdkection, the emotion
of anger does not lose its on@ form. In sublimation, the emotion takes a new
and higher form. Princess Saint Mira Bai has set a glaring example of s u b w o n
She diverted h a instinctive urge of lust towards divine love for Lard Kristma atld
this was socially and c u l w amptable. Through her devotional can@-
she immortalized her love for Lord Krishna.
Fear against death fiom disease, can be sublimated into research and charitable EmotionaUSocial
activities against eradication of the disease. Development

2.7.3 Catharsis
Catharsis is purification of emotions through drama. It is the process of bringing
repressed feelings to consciousness and expressing them through the medium of
drama. In India people observe mourning for many days following the death of
some near and dear one. It is a cathartic process of expressing feelings of sorrow.
Cox (1997) calls it as 'sense of imaginative sympathy'. It is vital to morality.
2.7.4 Inhibition
Inhibition is the process of 'checking free expression' of any emotion. With strong
'will power' one can suppress the emotional feelings. Developing sense of duty
moderates emotional behavior, Parents and teachers should assign 'responsibility'
and it has been proved that proper encouragement and praise have worked
wonders.
Check Your Progress 2
1. Describe the self-conscious emotions in stage of middle childhood?
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2 In the Indian confext, how should the adolescents be handled? Specify
any two?
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3. Specify the different methods of handling emotion?
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2.8 LET US SUM UP

5
True self development of an individual depends on a balanced emotional
development. Happiness, health and peace depend on the emotional stability of
a person. The negative list of human emotions has a profound effect on our
emotional wellness. It is vitally important to understand and nurture our positive
emotions such as joy and authentic happiness. Emotions require carell handling
in home and school. In learning to manage our less positive emotions, we need
to remember that emotions come and go, and that we need to let them flow over
us without sweeping us away fiom our paths. If we allow our emotions too much
control over our lives, they can affect our choice, our happiness, and our motivation.
Balancing what we are feeling and the conscious choices we make are the key5
Self Development to staying in control of our lives. The first thing in learning how to deal with our
human emotions is to learn to identi@ what we are feeling, and the roots of these
emotions. One p o w d way of gaining clarity is making a list of emotions to help
identifl what we are feeling. If we can identifl our emotions, we can deal with
them appropriately. We can also gain positive understanding of ourselves, different
situations, and the human condition.

2.9 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Answers to Check Your Progress 1
1. The word emotion is derived fiom a Latin word 'emovere' which means 'to
agitate', 'to excite' or 'to stir up'. An emotion is a complex condition underlymg
feelings, actions and physiological changes as occur in fm,rage, excitement
and so on.
2. An emotion associated with an inherited or innate psycho-physical tendency
is called Instinct.
3. The two features of Emotion are:
a) Emotions vary in nature
b) Primary emotions comprise six types of emotions -happiness, fear,
surprise, sadness, anger and disgust.
Answers to Check Your Progress 2
1. a) Around 18 months toddlers develop self-consciousemotions like shame,
pride, and embarrassment.
b) Vicarious feeling is another form of emotional response) Empathy and
sympathy are other emotions.
2. In the Indian context a few suggestions for handling adolescents are:
a) A sense of responsibility should be cultivated in them

b) Sex education on scientific basis should be given

3. The following are some methods for handling emotions:
a) Redrection b) Sublimation c) Catharsis d) Inhibition

2.10 REFERENCES
CruzeWendell.W (1999). Educational Psychology, Arnaz0n.Co.U.K.
Hurlock, E.B. (1974). Personality Development, Tata McGraw-Hill, Inc.New
York
McDougall William (2003). An Introduction to Social Psychology, (Paperback)
Dover Pubns.
Reynolds Stella (2007). Educational Psychology, Amazon.co.UK.
Woodworth R0bert.S. (1972). Experimental Psychology, Methuen Young Books
+

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