Emotional expressivity and self-regulation as indicators of social emotions in older preschool children: Evaluating the effectiveness of development

Introduction. The article presents a theoretical analysis of the main ideas on the problem of social emotions and social competence in the context of the development of self-regulation and interaction skills, as well as the role of parents in this process. The purpose of the article is to substantiate the effectiveness of the development of certain indicators of social emotions in older preschool children, such as emotional expressivity and self–regulation, using an innovative method of reflective conversation. Materials and Methods. A narrative approach was used as a methodological basis of the study. The main research methods comprise the analysis of scholarly literature devoted to the problem of the development of social emotions in older preschool children; as well as evaluation methods, including observation (V. M. Kholmogorova and E. O. Smirnova’s ‘Primary orientation in children s’ relationships’), testing (R. M. Chumicheva’s inventory for determining the ability of a 3-7-year-old child to assess mental states of another person), situation analysis, the method of reflexive conversation, as well as methods of statistical data processing (criterion φ – Fisher angular transformation). 68 preschoolers participated in the study. Results. The authors substantiate that the study of emotional expression and regulation of emotions of older preschool children is significant for understanding and choosing techniques for developing appropriate interactive skills. The relationship between the socio-emotional competence of older preschool children and reflective conversation has been determined. It has been proven that children’s ability to regulate their own emotions contributes to increasing their overall social competence. As a result of comparing the data of primary and secondary assessment of the experimental and control groups according to the indicators established: assessment of the mental states of another person, initiative, sensitivity to peer influences and the prevailing emotional background, significant differences were revealed. Conclusions. The experimental study of the influence of reflexive conversation on the development of social emotions and skills of emotional self-regulation allowed us to establish a causal relationship between indicators of socio-emotional competence and the constructive algorithm for conducting reflexive conversation. The study concludes that reflective conversations contribute to the development of emotional expressivity and self-regulation as indicators of social emotions in older preschool children.