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102 Personal Growth Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

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Personal growth is an essential part of life that allows individuals to become the best version of themselves. It involves self-reflection, self-improvement, and the willingness to step out of one's comfort zone. Writing personal growth essays can help individuals explore their own thoughts and experiences, and can also serve as a tool for self-discovery and growth. If you're looking for inspiration for your next personal growth essay, here are 102 topic ideas and examples to get you started:

The importance of setting and achieving personal goals
Overcoming fear of failure
Learning to embrace change
The power of positive thinking
How to cultivate a growth mindset
Dealing with setbacks and challenges
The benefits of stepping out of your comfort zone
Finding your passion and purpose in life
Building self-confidence and self-esteem
The role of self-care in personal growth
Practicing gratitude and mindfulness
Learning to forgive yourself and others
Overcoming self-doubt and imposter syndrome
Developing healthy habits and routines
The importance of self-reflection and introspection
Cultivating resilience and perseverance
Embracing vulnerability and authenticity
Finding balance in your personal and professional life
The impact of positive relationships on personal growth
How to overcome procrastination and improve productivity
The benefits of seeking out feedback and constructive criticism
The role of mentorship and guidance in personal growth
Learning to let go of perfectionism and control
Exploring your values and beliefs
The power of self-compassion and self-acceptance
Overcoming negative self-talk and limiting beliefs
The importance of continuous learning and growth
Finding meaning and fulfillment in your work
Cultivating empathy and compassion for others
The impact of gratitude journaling on personal growth
How to overcome self-sabotaging behaviors
The benefits of practicing mindfulness meditation
Learning to set boundaries and prioritize self-care
The role of resilience in overcoming adversity
Developing emotional intelligence and self-awareness
Overcoming perfectionism and fear of failure
The importance of self-compassion in personal growth
Cultivating a growth mindset in the face of challenges
The benefits of seeking out new experiences and opportunities
Learning to embrace uncertainty and take risks
Overcoming limiting beliefs and self-imposed barriers
The power of visualization and goal-setting
Finding inspiration and motivation in your daily life
How to overcome self-doubt and build self-confidence
The impact of positive affirmations on personal growth
Learning to practice self-care and prioritize your well-being
Cultivating a sense of purpose and direction in life
The role of resilience in bouncing back from setbacks
Overcoming fear of rejection and failure
The benefits of practicing gratitude and mindfulness
How to develop a growth mindset and embrace challenges
Finding balance and harmony in your life
Learning to overcome negative self-talk and self-limiting beliefs
Embracing vulnerability and authenticity in your relationships
Building resilience and perseverance in the face of adversity
The role of positive relationships in personal growth
Overcoming perfectionism and the need for control
The impact of continuous learning and growth on personal development
Developing healthy habits and routines for success
Learning to let go of past mistakes and regrets
The power of positive thinking and visualization
How to cultivate a growth mindset and embrace change
Practicing gratitude and mindfulness in your daily life
Overcoming fear of failure and rejection
The importance of self-care and prioritizing your well-being
Cultivating resilience and perseverance in the face of challenges
Finding balance and harmony in your personal and professional life
How to overcome self-sabotaging behaviors and negative habits
The power of positive affirmations and self-talk
Cultivating a growth mindset and embracing challenges
The importance of self-compassion and self-acceptance
Overcoming negative self-talk and self-limiting beliefs
How to let go of past mistakes and regrets
Cultivating empathy and compassion for yourself and others

These are just a few examples of personal growth essay topics that you can explore. Feel free to mix and match ideas, or come up with your own unique topics based on your own experiences and interests. Remember, personal growth is a lifelong journey, and writing about it can be a powerful tool for self-discovery and transformation. Happy writing!

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The Path to Personal Growth

Growth is about overcoming our tendency to respond quickly or negatively..

Posted June 13, 2021 | Reviewed by Jessica Schrader

Steps to personal growth include learning how to respond better to situations and finding those we can learn from on our journey.
Reframing our mindset to be more solution-focused than reactive can ultimately help make our lives happier.
It is important to find a teacher whose teachings and philosophy resonate with you, and to apply their principles to your own life.

Many people are focused on achieving fleeting things like wealth, success, or fame. While they may bring about temporary happiness , the feeling is often fleeting. I believe that out of all of the things we can work towards, pursuing personal growth is the best choice to achieve lifelong happiness and contentment. Today, we’ll learn why.

We don’t have much control over things in the external world. For example, we didn’t choose the place we were born, our family, or our natural talents. The one thing we do have control over is how we respond to the world, more specifically to adversity. Personal growth is about overcoming our natural tendency to respond quickly or negatively to situations. When we’re able to control our reactions, or our internal selves, a world of possibilities opens up.

In today’s post, I want to discuss the two ways we can achieve personal growth and how we can better respond to the world around us. This will help us find inner peace no matter what’s happening in our external world. This may sound hard for some of us, and it is. But when we change how we see the world and how we respond to the world, there is an unlimited amount of potential for achieving happiness and peace.

The first aspect of personal growth is learning how to respond better to situations that we have historically struggled with. Let’s use self-confidence as an example. When we’re having a particularly low day, we may look in the mirror and think, “I don’t like the way I look.” To combat these thoughts, we can develop skills to accept our appearance and even begin to like the way we look. This acceptance stems from the realization that there are some things that are out of our control. Once we internalize this fact, we can begin to accept what is, and eventually love what is.

The second key ingredient to personal growth is finding a teacher or teachers that we can learn from on our journey. The reason this is a key ingredient is that it’s helpful to have an expert in the subject who can help us understand these principles more deeply.

Let’s dive deeper into both of these concepts.

The first aspect of personal growth is focused on re-framing our struggles. What I mean by this is, the next time we face a problem, the best way to overcome it is to see it differently. For example, the next time we wake up anxious , are upset at a friend, or have an interaction that causes us to stress , we can choose to see these as opportunities to make our lives better.

Something I have repeated throughout my podcast is that there is a solution to every single problem we face. One of life’s purposes is to find these solutions. We have the power to adjust our typical responses to situations that bring on intense emotions, whether that is shame , anger , depression , etc. We now can begin to say, “I’m struggling with this. There must be something that I’m doing that is causing me to struggle, because there are other people who have also faced this problem and they’re doing well. This means there must be a solution.” Instead of criticizing ourselves, or hating our lives, we can reframe our mindset to be more solution-focused than reactive. This will guide us towards finding a way to solve our problems and ultimately make our lives happier.

Let me use an example to explore this point. Studies have shown that about 80% of people are unhappy at work. For the purpose of this example, let’s say we’re in that 80%. In order to change our circumstances, or find a solution, we must ask ourselves what can we do to make our situation better? We can perhaps leave our job, but that would have consequences since we’re responsible for supporting our family. Maybe we can look into other career paths, but seeking out more education may take a long time. Or we can say, maybe I can reduce my living expenses so I don’t need to keep up with the lifestyle I’ve created for myself. With these reduced expenses, I can now work a little less or find a job that will be more fulfilling. Happiness is about enjoying our day all day long, so we want to make sure that our job makes us feel happy and fulfilled.

There are so many ways to tackle this problem. One solution that many of my clients have reached over the years is to work less. A lot of people have flexibility in their work already that they may not be taking advantage of. For example, one of my clients gets three weeks of vacation a year but is tempted to skip out on the vacation because they get paid out on those days at the end of the year. In response, I asked them, is it worth not taking your vacation to have a little more money? When they examined the option more closely they decided that no, it wasn’t worth giving up the opportunity to recharge and decompress. My goal is to help folks reframe what life is about. I believe that it’s about enjoying the journey and for most people who work regularly, taking a vacation is necessary to maintain our happiness.

Remember that this is just an example. Your story and your struggles may look completely different. The overarching point here is that we often have some control over situations that may seem out of our control. And when we take the opportunity to make some changes, we will find that happiness is within our reach. We can look at life’s challenges as an opportunity for personal growth, rather than an inconvenience or hassle. The best part is, when these challenges re-emerge later, we’ll know how to handle them.

The second aspect of personal growth is to find a teacher whose teachings and philosophy resonate with you. When you do find the right teacher, it’s important to apply their principles to your own life. This step may seem less important but it is just as important as step number one. Our parents or caretakers were the people who taught us how to respond to the world and if we want to change that, we need someone who is better aligned to our current belief system than the one we had when we were younger. We also don't necessarily have to access these teachings in person. We can listen to them on audiobooks, watch them on youtube, or read about their beliefs in a book. And if you reach a point where their teachings are no longer serving you, there are always other people out there who can guide you through your path to self-discovery

Working on ourselves is no easy task. It involves unlearning and practicing different responses to problems, over and over again. But we must remember that we are capable of real change, and these changes can help us live beautiful lives. When we look at problems in a different light and follow a teacher with whom we resonate, we’ll grow exponentially.

Robert Puff, Ph.D. , is host and producer of the Happiness Podcast, with over 16 million downloads.

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Personal Growth Essay | A Winning Essay Writing Strategy

EssayEdge > Blog > Personal Growth Essay | A Winning Essay Writing Strategy

Personal Growth. Perhaps this topic is the most popular one since it delves into the heart of what the admissions essay is all about: helping the college gain better insight into an applicant’s personality and character. Some schools ask targeted questions — “What was the most challenging event you have ever faced, and how have you grown from it?” — while others leave the topic open: “Describe an event that has had great meaning for you. Explain why and how it has affected you.”

One of the most successful strategies is to use a past event as a lens through which you can assess who you were and the person you became, how you have grown and changed, your transformation. Most children are curious, but were you the one who asked your teacher what caused the change of seasons of the year and then created a solar system model and explained the concept to your classmates? Though you may think that your topic needs to be more grandiose, that is not necessary for an essay to be effective. Instead, success lies in painting an accurate and vivid picture of yourself — one that will show admissions officers that you have much to offer their school.

The most important advice we can give is to be honest, refrain from using clichés, and show maturity. College represents a radical change from high school, so you want your reader to realize that you are more than ready to take the next major step in your life.

Sample Essays And Comments

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Emotional Growth Essays

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Emotional Development Essay Titles

Paradise of the Blind by Huong, Illustrates Human Emotional Growth and Natural Parallel Changes.
The Impact of Poverty on Children’s Social and Emotional Development
The Impact of Pretend Play on Children’s Social and Emotional Growth
Learning to Get Along with Others and Feeling Safe in the World
Focus on Social and Emotional Growth in Childhood: A Developmental Perspective
The Bilingual Achievement Gap in Language and Emotional Development in Children
The Emotional Growth of Romeo and Juliet in the Play
Depression’s Emotional Origins
The Impact of Abuse on an Infant’s Emotional Development
Impact of Parental Interactions on Children’s Emotional Growth
The Emotional Development of a Child Is Affected by Abuse in the First Years of Life
The Role of Adults in a Child’s Emotional Development
The Social and Emotional Life of Young Children: A Developmental Framework
The Emotional and Social Developmental Lifespan
Development of Children’s Brains and Emotions with the Help of Their Parents
Consider the Effects of Poverty on a Kid’s Emotional and Social Growth.
Technology’s Influence on Our Well-Being and Psychological Growth
How Drama Can Help Kids Grow Emotionally
Ways Divorce Affects a Kid’s Emotional Growth
The Value of Play in Children’s Social and Emotional Growth

Essay Topics on Emotional Development

Young Children’s Emotional Growth
Children’s Social and Emotional Growth
Children’s Challenging Behaviour
According to Mindess, Chen, and Brenner, the Significance of Social and Emotional Growth in Our Lives Is Emphasized on Page
The Role of Technology in Our Emotional Growth and Contentment
John Bender’s Brain and Emotional Growth
The Psyche of Kids’ Emotional and Social Growth
Attachment in Infancy Plays a Crucial Part in Later Emotional Development.
The Social and Emotional Learning Theory (Psych)
A Nurturing Curriculum for Social and Emotional Growth
Changes in Social and Emotional Development Caused by Non-traditional Families
Positively Guiding Social and Emotional Growth and Development: A Statement of Competence
Hangs Emotional Growth and the Parallel Alterations in Nature
Relationship between a Child’s Language, Communication, and Emotional Growth During the Toddler Years
Reasons Why Play Is Crucial to Children’s Emotional and Cognitive Growth
The Importance of the Family in a Child’s Psychological and Cognitive Growth
Changes in Autistic Children’s Social and Emotional Development Due to the Use of Emotional Support Animals
Adolescents’ Emotional and Social Growth
Teachers Significantly Affect Their Students’ Academic, Social, and Emotional Growth, Which Leads Us to Our Nineteenth Point.
Peer Influence in Social and Emotional Growth
Impact of Down Syndrome on Cognitive and Emotional Growth The Various Phases of Emotional and Social Growth
Methods for Developing Emotional Intelligence
Understanding a Child’s Social and Emotional Development
To Better Comprehend a Child’s Social and Emotional Growth, One Must First Be Aware of Its Effects.

Research Topics for Emotional Development

Describe Emotional Growth and Give Some Instances
To What Extent Did Erik Erikson Describe Children’s Emotional and Social Growth?
How Does One Go Through Each Stage of Emotional Growth?
Does Children’s Exposure to Technology Impact Their Health and Well-Being?
Emotional Growth Shapes a Person’s Lifespan
How Do Children Who Have Been Abused Develop Socially and Emotionally?
What Role Does Emotional Growth Play in a Child’s Development?
Emotional and Social Growth in Children and Teens: What Role Does Pet Ownership Play?
Why and How Does Modern Technology Influence Our Well-Being and Personal Growth on an Emotional Level?
What Factors Lead to an Individual’s Failure to Mature Emotionally, Number Ten?
How Does Emotional Development Vary between the Sexes?
How Can I Help My Kid Grow Emotionally?
Ow, Do Kids Who Have Had Different Attachment Experiences Grow Up Emotionally?
Which Extracurricular Foster Emotional Growth?
Tell-tale Signs of Trouble with Emotional Development
In What Ways Does One’s Emotional Growth Affect Their Development?
The Impact of Emotional Growth on Academic Performance Is Discussed
What Markers Do We Look for in Emotional Growth?
Why Are Emotional Development and Regulation Related?
How Do We Gauge Social and Emotional Growth?
How Does the Differential Emotions Theory Explain Infant and Toddler Emotional Growth?
In a State of Normal Emotional Development, Why Does the Depressive Position Exist?
The Study of Emotional Growth: What Recurring Themes Have Researchers Noticed?
What Are the Hallmarks of Infants’ Emotional Growth?
What Marks the Stages of Infant Emotional Development?
How Do Gifted Kids Grow Up Emotionally and Socially?

16 Ways to Encourage Students to Tell ...

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Essays About Emotions: Top 6 Examples and Prompts

We all experience a vast range of emotions; read on to see our top examples of essays about emotions, and thought-provoking writing prompts.

Human beings use their emotions as an internal compass. They guide us through tough challenges and help create memorable moments that build relationships and communities. They give us strength that’s incomparable to intellect. They are powerful enough to drive our survival, bring down invincible-seeming tyrants, and even shape the future.

If you want to express your emotions through writing, creating an essay is a perfect way to materialize your thoughts and feelings. Read on for the best essay examples and help with your next essay about emotions.

1. Managing Emotions by Charlotte Nelson

2. how to deal with your emotions effectively by jayaram v, 3. music affects mood by delores goodwin, 4. emotions, stress, and ways to cope with them by anonymous on ivypanda, 5. essay on emotions: definition, characteristics, and importance by reshma s, 6. the most powerful emotion in marketing may surprise you by oliver yonchev, 9 writing prompts on essays about emotions to write about, 1. what are positive and negative emotions, 2. how to control and manage emotions for emotional people, 3. why it can benefit you to hide your emotions, 4. the power of emotional connection between siblings, 5. emotions make music, and music drives emotions, 6. psychopathic individuals and their emotions, 7. emotions expressed in art, 8. dance: physical expression of emotion, 9. lessons to learn from highly emotional scenes on screen.

“Emotions. They not just leave an impact on the organizations but on the organizational structure as well, and it is vital for leaders in the organization to deal with it.”

Nelson’s essay focuses on how emotions can be harmful if not managed properly. She also differentiates moods from emotions and the proper and improper emotional management methods.

“They are essential for your survival and serve a definite purpose in your life by giving you advance warning signals and alerting you to different situations.”

Our feelings are important, and this essay points out that negative emotions aren’t always a bad thing. The important thing is we learn how to cope with them appropriately.

“So we just listen and close our eyes, and it is our song for three minutes because the singers understand.”

Goodwin’s essay explores how we feel various moods or emotions from listening to different genres of music. For example, she writes about how rock masks pain and releases daily tensions, how classical music encourages babies’ development, etc.

“Emotions play a unique role in the experiences and health outcomes of all people. A proper understanding of how to cope with emotions and stress can empower more individuals to record positive health outcomes.”

This essay incorporates stress into the topic of emotions and how to manage it. It’s no surprise that people can feel stress as a strong emotion. The essay explores the various methods of managing the two things and promoting health.

“Emotions can be understood as some sort of feelings or affective experiences which are characterized by some physiological changes that generally lead them to perform some of the other types of behavioral acts.”

Reshma uses a scientific approach to define emotion, the types of emotions, and how it works. The essay provides the characteristics of emotions, like being feeling being the core of emotion. It also included the importance of emotions and theories around them.

“The emotional part of the brain processes information five times more quickly than the rational part, which is why tapping into people’s emotions is so powerful.”

Instead of discussing emotions only, Yonchev uses his essay to write about the emotions used in marketing tactics. He focuses on how brands use powerful emotions like happiness and fear in their marketing strategies. A great example is Coca-Cola’s iconic use of marketing happiness, giving the brand a positive emotional connection to consumers.

You’ve read various essays about emotions. Now, it’s your turn to write about them. Here are essay ideas and prompts to help you find a specific track to write about.

Essays about emotions: What Are Positive and Negative Emotions?

Work out the definition of positive and negative emotions. Use this essay to provide examples of both types of emotions. For example, joy is a positive emotion, while irritation is negative. Read about emotions to back up your writing.

Depending on the scenario, many people are very open with their emotions and are quite emotional. The workplace is an example of a place where it’s better to put your emotions aside. Write an essay if you want to explore the best ways to handle your emotions during stressful moments.

You need to know when to hide your emotions, like in a poker game. Even if you don’t play poker, controlling or hiding your emotions provides some advantages. Keeping emotional reactions to yourself can help you remain professional in certain situations. Emotional reactions can also overwhelm you and keep you from thinking of a solution on the fly.

Close-knit families have powerful emotional connections to one another. Siblings have an incredibly unique relationship. You can think back to your experiences with your siblings and discuss how your relationship has driven you to be more emotionally open or distant from them.

Create a narrative essay to share your best memory with your siblings.

There’s a reason so many songs revolve around the “love at first sight” idea. A powerful emotion is something like giddiness from meeting someone for the first time and feeling love-struck by their behavior. Grief, anger, and betrayal are emotions that drive artists to create emotionally charged songs.

Some people have a misbelief that psychopaths don’t have emotions. If you’re diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) , the true definition of a psychopath in psychiatry, this is a perfect essay prompt. You can also use this if you’re studying psychology or have a keen interest in psychopathic behaviors or people around you.

Like music, art also has a deep link to emotions. People who see art have subjective reactions to it. If you’ve been given a piece of art to react to, consider writing an essay to express how you perceive and understand the piece, whether it’s a 2D abstract painting or a 3D wire sculpture.

A widely appreciated branch of art is dance. Contemporary dance is a popular way of expressing emotion today, but other types of dance are also great options. Whether classical ballroom, group hip hop, or ballet, your choice will depend on the type of dance you enjoy watching or doing. If you’re more physical or prefer watching dance, you may enjoy writing about emotional expression through dance instead of writing about art.

Do you have a favorite scene from a film or TV show? Use this essay topic to discuss your favorite scene and explain why you loved the emotional reactions of its characters. You can also compare them to a more realistic reaction.

Write a descriptive essay to describe your favorite scene before discussing the emotions involved.

Maria Caballero is a freelance writer who has been writing since high school. She believes that to be a writer doesn't only refer to excellent syntax and semantics but also knowing how to weave words together to communicate to any reader effectively.

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Towards a Strong Foundation: Social and Emotional Development in Young Children

Nurturing relationships provide the context for human development and are an essential source of resilience for children and adults (e.g., Luthar, 2006; Rutter, 1987). Resilience refers to the capacity to weather and bounce back from both everyday challenges and significant adversity and trauma -- like that we’ve all experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is influenced by foundational social and emotional skills and competencies (e.g., Masten, 2009).

In this short essay we describe children’s early social and emotional skills, show how they are linked to early caregiving and are influenced by stress and vulnerability, and highlight some programs, practices, and strategies that foster them.

Social and Emotional Development and Foundational Relationships

Social and emotional development refers to the processes whereby children learn to identify and express emotions, focus attention and manage impulses, successfully navigate relationships with peers and adults, develop a positive self-concept, make responsible decisions, and solve problems (e.g., Jones, McGarrah, & Kahn, 2019).

Over many decades researchers from an array of disciplines, e.g. human development and psychology, neuroscience, education and economics, have described how these essential skills are deeply intertwined with other areas of development, such as cognitive and physical. These developments in the brain and in behavior all work together to influence school and life outcomes, including higher education, physical and mental health, economic well-being, and civic engagement (Jones & Kahn, 2018).

During development, social and emotional skills grow and change like building blocks. Early skills lay the foundation for more complex skills that emerge later in life. For example, during early childhood, children learn and grow in the context of relationships with parents and other caregivers at home and in childcare and preschool settings. Through responsive, nurturing interactions these relationships shape the growth of basic executive functions, self-regulation and emotional competencies, which are the salient social and emotional skills of early childhood.

These skills encompass young children’s emerging capacity to:

Understand their emotions, communicate about them, and read those of others around them. For example, use feeling words when frustrated, angry, or excited.

Be aware of and begin to manage impulses and behavior. For example, wait for a snack or dinner when hungry or for the chance to share news in the classroom, or remember and follow the routines of bedtime.

Focus and shift attention in explicit ways and imagine the perspectives of another person. For example, move from one activity to another in the classroom, or engage in basic social back and forth and play.

Basic skills like these set the stage for more complex skills later in life such as planning and problem solving, critical thinking and decision making, forming and maintaining sophisticated friendships, and coping skills, among others (Bailey & Jones, 2019).

The Role of Experience and Context Including Stress and Vulnerability

Importantly, these early skills are highly susceptible to stress and vulnerability. Research shows that the prefrontal cortex – which is responsible for executive function and self-regulation -- is closely linked to other brain regions that signal emotions like fear, anger, and anxiety.

These brain regions are connected through the stress response system, which alerts the body to react in times of danger (e.g., Arnsten, 1998). But responding and adapting to stress can come at a cost. When stress is chronic or takes over, it can inhibit children’s early social and emotional skills, resulting in dysregulated, reactive, and sometimes withdrawn behavior, and this is true for young children and adults (e.g., Arnsten, Mazure & Sinha, 2012).

Critical to this dynamic is that predictable, nurturing relationships are protective. They operate as a buffer between stress and strain on the one hand, and children’s healthy development on the other (Center on the Developing Child, 2014).

Research on children’s wellbeing during the pandemic illustrates how these processes can play out. For example, Harvard education researcher Emily Hanno (2021) examined data about a sample of young children and families before and after COVID-19 shut down U.S. childcare centers and preschools in 2020. They found that as parents experienced more stress, households grew more chaotic, and parent-child conflict increased, children displayed more challenging behaviors and fewer adaptive ones.

Another large-scale study, the Rapid Assessment of Pandemic Impact on Development–Early Childhood (RAPID)https://rapidsurveyproject.com/), documented that high levels of material hardship that families experienced in the first year of the pandemic, coupled with ongoing week-to-week unpredictability, had detrimental effects on both caregivers’ and children’s well-being (Liu, et al 2022). Studies on how poverty, disasters, bereavement, armed conflict, and displacement affect children and adults have produced similar findings.

Supporting Family Well-Being and Social and Emotional Development

Supporting children’s social and emotional development demands coordinated child, family, and education-based efforts. Some examples of these are described here.

As noted above, social and emotional development, indeed successful early childhood development more generally, requires nurturing care. This has been defined as health, nutrition, security and safety, responsive caregiving, and opportunities for early learning (Black, et al, 2016).

Globally, this concept has been advanced through The Nurturing Care Framework for Early Childhood Development ( https://nurturing-care.org/ ) .

The Nurturing Care Framework was developed by WHO, UNICEF, the World Bank Group, in collaboration with the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, the Early Childhood Development Action Network and many other partners, and launched alongside the 71st World Health Assembly in May, 2018. It takes a comprehensive approach by outlining important strategies to address the integrated needs of the developing child.

The wellbeing of caregivers is the enabling environment for responsive care. The promotion of social emotional development depends on policies and practices that take a whole family approach, assuring that those who care for young children have the support they need to be successful as caregivers, including adequate housing, income, childcare, education, health, and mental health supports.

A relevant and recently launched innovation focused on parents is the Global Initiative to Support Parents ( https://ecdan.org/global-initiative-to-support-parents/ ) . This unique partnership launched by the Early Childhood Development Action Network, WHO, UNICEF, End Violence Against Children, and Parenting for Lifelong Health includes the ultimate vision that all families worldwide have universal access to evidence-based parenting support.

Early childhood services designed for parents and children have for decades been understood to play an important role in offsetting the impact of vulnerability and adversity on healthy growth and development and to be an important setting for cultivating emerging social and emotional skills. A hallmark of these efforts is that they provide families with information, resources, and support that enables those nurturing, connected interactions, and helps all parents navigate the stress that inevitably comes with raising young children (Jones, Bailey & Partee, 2017).

In the early classroom context, there are a large number of curricular and strategy-based approaches that educators can embed in their instructional and caregiving routines. The most effective of these programs typically combine direct teaching of social and emotional skills with structures and routines that provide young children with lots of opportunities to practice emerging skills, as well as support for adult caregivers to proactively manage young children’s behavior (e.g., Jones, Bailey & Jacob, 2014).

As noted above, children across the world have been impacted by the uncertainty, isolation and stress caused by the pandemic. In response, The LEGO Foundation teamed up with HundredED, to identify education innovations from across the world focused on improving social and emotional learning. In 2021, they published Spotlight Social and Emotional Learning which presented 13 innovations from 10 countries. These inspiring examples provide promising solutions that can help respond to the needs of children and offer ideas about how to foster caring and nurturing relationships. Some of these innovations can be found here: https://hundred.org/en/collections/social-emotional-learning-sel .

In summary, research and practice focused on children’s early social and emotional development tells us that these skills:

Develop in the context of primary relationships and interactions.

Are foundational to early learning, as well as important developmental milestones throughout life.

Are optimized when children feel safe, secure, and supported.

Are influenced and shaped by experience, culture, and beliefs.

Effective approaches to fostering and supporting these important skills are situated in families, leverage nurturing relationships and interactions at home and in early learning settings, and are rooted in community and family support.

Stephanie Jones

Gerald S. Lesser Professor in Child Development and Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Co-Director, Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative

Joan Lombardi

Senior Fellow, Collaborative on Global Children’s Issues, Georgetown University

Senior Advisor, Graduate School of Education, Stanford Center on Early Childhood

Arnsten, A. (1998). The biology of being frazzled. Science , 280 (5370), 1711-1712, DOI: 10.1126/science.280.5370.1711

Arnsten, A. Mazure. C.M. & Sinha, R. (2012). This Is Your Brain in Meltdown. Scientific American 306, 4, 48-53. DOI: 10.1038/scientificamerican0412-48

Bailey, R., & Jones, S. M. (2019). An Integrated Model of Regulation for Applied Settings. Clinical Child & Family Psychology Review , 22 (1), 2–23. DOI: 10.1007/s10567-019-00288-y

Black, M. M. et al. (2016). for the Lancet Early Childhood Development Series Steering Committee. Advancing Early Childhood Development: from science to scale 1 , Early Childhood development coming of age: Science through the life course . www.thelancet.com , published online October 4, 2016

Center on the Developing Child (2014). Building adult capacities to improve child outcomes: A theory of change. Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.

Hanno, E.C., Cuartas, J., Miratrix, L.W., Jones, S.M., & Lesaux, N.K. (2021). Changes in children’s behavioral health and family well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics. DOI: 10.1097/DBP.0000000000001010

Jones, S.M., Bailey, R. & Jacob, R. (2014). Social-emotional learning as a platform for effective classroom management. Phi Delta Kappan . https://doi.org/10.1177/0031721714553405

Jones, S.M., Bailey, R., & Partee, A. (2017). SECURe Families: Interrupting Intergenerational Cycles of Stress and Poverty , The Aspen Journal of Ideas , Aspen Institute.

Jones, S. M., & Kahn, J. (2018). The Evidence Base for How Learning Happens: A Consensus on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development. American Educator , 41 (4), 16-21.

Jones, S.M., McGarrah, M. & Kahn, J. (2019). Social and emotional learning: A principled science of human development in context. Educational Psychologist .

Liu, S., Zalewski, M.,Lengua,L., Gunnar, M., Giuliani, N., Fisher, P. A. (2022) Material hardship level and unpredictability in relation to U.S. Households’, family interactions and emotional well-being: Insights from the C0VID-19 pandemic . Social Science & Medicine, 115173 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953622004798?dgcid=author

Luthar, S. S. (2006). Resilience in development: A synthesis of research across five decades. In D. Cicchetti & D. J. Cohen (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology: Risk, disorder, and adaptation (2nd ed., pp. 739–795). New York: Wiley.

Masten, A. S., & Wright, M. O’. D. (2009). Resilience over the lifespan: Developmental perspectives on resistance, recovery, and transformation. In J. W. Reich, A. J. Zautra, & J. S. Hall (Eds.), Handbook of adult resilience (pp. 213–237). New York: Guilford Press.

Rutter, M. (1987). Psychosocial resilience and protective mechanisms. American journal of Orthopsychiatry , 57, 316—331.

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, any tips for writing about a difficult or emotional experience in my college essay.

I want to share a deeply personal and emotional experience in my college essay, but I'm not sure how to approach it without sounding too negative or oversharing. Do you have any suggestions on how to write about challenging topics while still making a strong impression?

Writing about difficult or emotional experiences can be both impactful and challenging. The key is to focus on personal growth and learning that came as a result of the experience. Here are some tips to help you navigate through the process:

1. Be honest and genuine: Share your true emotions and experiences surrounding the situation, but be mindful of striking a balance between vulnerability and oversharing.

2. Emphasize growth and resilience: Highlight your personal development, how you have overcome the challenge, and what you've learned from the experience. This is a critical component of your essay, as it shows strength in the face of adversity.

3. Use descriptive language: This helps readers feel more connected to your story, allowing them to visualize and empathize with your experience. Just be cautious not to dwell too much on the negative aspects.

4. Wrap up with a positive tone: When concluding your essay, leave the reader with an understanding of how this difficult experience has shaped you into a stronger, more self-aware individual.

Good luck and remember that your story is uniquely yours and has the potential to make a strong impression on admissions officers!

About CollegeVine’s Expert FAQ

CollegeVine’s Q&A seeks to offer informed perspectives on commonly asked admissions questions. Every answer is refined and validated by our team of admissions experts to ensure it resonates with trusted knowledge in the field.

Emotional Intelligence (EQ)

Mia Belle Frothingham

Author, Researcher, Science Communicator

BA with minors in Psychology and Biology, MRes University of Edinburgh

Mia Belle Frothingham is a Harvard University graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Sciences with minors in biology and psychology

Learn about our Editorial Process

Saul Mcleod, PhD

Editor-in-Chief for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester

Saul Mcleod, PhD., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years of experience in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

Olivia Guy-Evans, MSc

Associate Editor for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MSc Psychology of Education

Olivia Guy-Evans is a writer and associate editor for Simply Psychology. She has previously worked in healthcare and educational sectors.

Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to perceive, understand, and manage one’s own emotions and relationships. It involves being aware of emotions in oneself and others and using this awareness to guide thinking and behavior. Emotionally intelligent individuals can motivate themselves, read social cues, and build strong relationships

Some researchers propose that emotional intelligence can be learned and strengthened, while others argue it is an inborn characteristic.

The ability to express and manage emotions is essential, but so is the ability to understand, diagnose, and react to the emotions of others. Imagine a world in which one could not understand when a friend felt sad or a classmate was angry.

Brain and heart on a wooden balance scale.

Why is Emotional Intelligence Critical?

Emotional Intelligence is the “ability to monitor one’s own and other people’s emotions, to discriminate between different emotions and label them appropriately, and to use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior” (Salovey and Mayer, 1990).

Having a higher level of emotional intelligence allows one to empathize with others, communicate effectively, and be both self and socially aware. How people respond to themselves and others impacts all types of environments.

Living in this world signifies interacting with many diverse kinds of individuals and constant change with life-changing surprises.

Being emotionally intelligent is key to how one reacts to what life throws. It is furthermore a fundamental element of compassion and comprehending the deeper reasons behind other people’s actions.

It is not the most intelligent people who are the most prosperous or the most fulfilled in life. Many people are academically genius and yet are socially incompetent and unsuccessful in their careers or their intimate relationships.

Intellectual ability or intelligence quotient (IQ) is not enough on its own to achieve success in life. Undoubtedly, IQ can help one get into university, but your Emotional Intelligence (EI) will help one manage stress and emotions when facing final exams.

IQ and EI exist in tandem and are most influential when they build off one another.

Emotional intelligence is also valuable for leaders who set the tone of their organization. If leaders lack emotional intelligence , it could have more far-reaching consequences, resulting in lower worker engagement and a higher turnover rate.

While one might excel at one’s job technically, if one cannot effectively communicate with one’s team or collaborate with others, those specialized skills will get neglected.

By mastering emotional intelligence, one can positively impact anywhere and continue to advance one’s position and career in life. EI is vital when dealing with stressful situations like confrontation, change, and obstacles.

Emotional intelligence helps one build stronger relationships, succeed at work or school, and achieve one’s career and personal goals, as well as reduce group stress, defuse conflict, and enhance job satisfaction.

It can also help connect with one’s inner feelings, turn purpose into action, and make informed decisions about what matters most to oneself.

During these times, it is essential to remember to practice kindness, and being in touch with our emotions can help us do just that.

Examples of Emotional Intelligence

How does one become emotionally intelligent? Below we will discuss what one can do to learn to improve the skills that are behind emotional intelligence (EI).

Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to recognize the meanings of emotions and to reason and problem-solve based on them (Mayer, Caruso, & Salovey, 1999).

By working on and improving these skills, one can become more emotionally intelligent and, therefore, more successful!

Emotional Awareness and Understanding

Self-awareness, or the ability to recognize and comprehend one’s own emotions, is a vital emotional intelligence skill. Beyond acknowledging one’s feelings, however, is being conscious of the effect of one’s actions, moods, and emotions on other people.

According to research by Tasha Eurich, an organizational psychologist, 95% of individuals believe they are self-aware. Still, only 10 to 15 percent genuinely are, which can cause problems for the people one interacts with.

Being with people who are not self-aware can be frustrating and lead to increased stress and decreased encouragement.

To become self-aware, one must be capable of monitoring one’s emotions while recognizing different emotional reactions and correctly identifying each distinct emotion.

Self-aware individuals also can recognize the connections between the things they feel and how they act.

These individuals also acknowledge their strengths and weaknesses, are open to new data and experiences, and learn from their exchanges with others.

Furthermore, people who maintain self-awareness have a fine sense of humor, are confident in themselves and their capabilities, and know how others perceive them.

Here are some tips on improving one’s self-awareness:

Ask for constructive feedback from others.

Keep a journal of one’s thoughts and feelings.

Practice mindfulness – try meditating.

Pay careful attention to one’s thoughts and emotions.

Pursue one’s passions and do what makes one happy.

Learn new skills and set goals for oneself.

Reflect on one’s experiences and be grateful.

Use positive self-talk daily.

Work on building a growth mindset.

Emotional Self Regulation (Managing Emotions)

In addition to being aware of one’s own emotions and the impact one has on others, emotional intelligence requires one to regulate and manage one’s emotions .

This does not mean taking emotions out of sight and essentially “locking” them away, hence hiding one’s true feelings. It just means waiting for the right time and place to express them. Self-regulation is all about communicating one’s emotions appropriately in context. A reaction tends to be involuntary.

The more in tune one is with one’s emotional intelligence, the easier one can transition from an instant reaction to a well-thought-out response. It is crucial to remember to pause, breathe, compose oneself, and do what it takes to manage one’s emotions.

This could mean anything to oneself, like taking a walk or talking to a friend, so that one can more appropriately and intentionally respond to tension and adversity.

Those proficient in self-regulation tend to be flexible and acclimate well to change. They are also suitable for handling conflict and diffusing uncomfortable or difficult situations.

People with healthy self-regulation skills also tend to have heightened conscientiousness. They reflect on how they influence others and take accountability for their actions.

Here are some tips on improving one’s self-regulation:

Look at challenges as opportunities.

Be mindful of thoughts and feelings.

Build distress and anxiety tolerance skills.

Work on accepting reflections and emotions.

Find ways to manage difficult emotions.

Practice communication and social skills.

Recognize that one has a choice in how one responds.

Use cognitive reframing to change emotional responses and thought patterns.

Social Empathy (Perceiving Emotions)

Empathy , or the capability to comprehend how other people are feeling, is crucial to perfecting emotional intelligence.

However, it involves more than just being able to identify the emotional states of others. It also affects one’s responses to people based on this knowledge.

How does one respond when one senses someone is feeling sad or hopeless? One might treat them with extra care and consideration, or one might make a push to lift their mood.

Being empathetic also allows one to understand the authority dynamics that frequently influence social relationships, especially in the workplace.

This is essential for guiding one’s daily interactions with various people. In fact, it is found that empathy ranks as the number one leadership skill.

Leaders proficient in empathy perform more than 40% higher in coaching, engaging others, and decision-making. In a different study, researchers found that leaders who show more empathy toward their co-workers and constructive criticism are viewed as better performers by their supervisors.

Those competent in this element can recognize who maintains power in different relationships. They also understand how these forces impact feelings and behaviors. Because of this, they can accurately analyze different situations that hinge on such power dynamics.

Here are some tips on improving social empathy:

Be willing to share emotions.

Listen to other people.

Practice meditation.

Engage in a purpose like a community project.

Meet and talk to new people.

Try to imagine yourself in someone else’s place.

Social Skills (Using Emotions)

The ability to interact well with others is another vital aspect of emotional intelligence. Solid social skills allow people to build meaningful relationships with others and develop a more robust understanding of themselves and others.

Proper emotional understanding involves more than just understanding one’s own emotions and those of others. One also needs to put this information to work in one’s daily interactions and communications.

In the workplace or professional settings, managers benefit by being able to build relationships and connections with employees.

Workers benefit from developing a solid rapport with leaders and co-workers. Some prefer to avoid conflict, but it is crucial to address issues as they arise correctly.

Research shows that every unaddressed conflict can waste almost eight hours of company time on unproductive activities, damaging resources and morale. Essential social skills include active listening , verbal communication, nonverbal communication, leadership , and persuasiveness.

Here are some tips on improving social skills:

Ask open-ended questions.

Find icebreakers that will help start conversations.

Practice good eye contact.

Practice active listening with the entire body.

Notice other people’s social skills.

Show interest in others and ask them personal questions.

Watch one’s body language and that of others.

In The Workplace

Emotional intelligence includes showing genuine compassion, empathizing with the needs of individuals, and encouraging the ongoing personal growth of individuals.

When a leader takes into account the emotions of their followers, they then learn how to best engage with them.

1. Lending a Compassionate Ear to a Frustrated Co-Worker

Employees will inevitably get upset, have bad moods, argue, and just generally have bad days. In practice, compassion, understanding, and awareness are definite signs of emotional intelligence.

Awareness of and reacting to other people’s emotional states shows an understanding that all humans experience intense emotions and says that a person’s feelings matter.

2. Listening to Others Respectfully

Ever been to a conference when it seems like everyone is speaking over each other, trying to get the last word?

This is not only an indication of egos taking over and a lack of consideration for others; these are also indications of there being a lack of emotional intelligence.

When individuals are allowed to speak, and others listen without persistent interruptions, it is a good sign of EI. It shows reciprocal respect between parties and is more likely to lead to a productive conclusion in meetings.

3. Being Flexible

Flexibility is a critical term in organizations today. Building flexibility into how people function can be the difference between keeping the best workers and drifting out the door.

Emotionally intelligent leaders comprehend the changing needs of others and are ready to work with them rather than attempting to impose rigid restrictions on how people go about their work.

They do not expect everyone to work the hours they do, hold the same priorities, or live by precisely the same values.

In Healthcare

1. being patient with hurting individuals.

When in healthcare, it is expected that doctors and nurses will have to manage people in pain. Emotional intelligence not only allows for better patient care but also for better self-care.

For instance, if a patient is lashing out, and one can see that they are in pain, one will be far less likely to take their combativeness personally and treat them better.

2. Acting as the Effective Leader

In healthcare, there is a necessity to have influential leaders, a trusting environment with a helpful team, critical thinking, and quality patient and family-centered care.

A higher emotional intelligence will allow healthcare professionals to respond and react better to patients. Studies have shown a correlation between emotional intelligence and positive patient outcomes.

3. Responding Better to Stressful Situations

Multiple occasions in healthcare involve an urgent situation involving a life or death scenario. Doctors and nurses must check their own emotions.

Being in healthcare is a highly emotional career, and being aware of your feelings when they come up is key to effective self-care.

Interacting with patients can cause overwhelming joy or deep sadness, and these fluctuations can be utterly exhausting.

The ability to deal with these feelings, take breaks, and ask for help when you need it is another example of good emotional intelligence that nurses should practice.

Tips for Improving EI

Be more self-aware.

Awareness of one’s emotions and emotional responses to others can significantly improve one’s emotional intelligence. Knowing when one is feeling anxious or angry can help process and communicate those feelings in a way that promotes healthy results.

Recognize how others feel

Emotional intelligence could start with self-reflection, but measuring how others perceive one’s behavior and communication is essential. Adjusting one’s message based on how one is being received is an integral part of being emotionally intelligent.

Practice active listening

People communicate verbally and nonverbally, so listening and monitoring for potentially positive and negative reactions is essential. Taking the time to hear others also demonstrates a level of respect that can form the basis for healthy relationships.

Communicate clearly

Solid communication skills are critical for emotional intelligence. Knowing what to express or write and when to offer information is crucial for building strong relationships.

For instance, as a manager in a work environment, communicating expectations and goals is required to keep everyone on the same page.

Stay positive

A positive attitude is incredibly infectious. Emotionally intelligent people comprehend the power of positive words, encouraging emails, and friendly gestures. When one can also remain positive in a stressful situation, one can help others stay calm. It can also encourage further problem-solving and collaboration.

Thinking about how others might be feeling is an essential quality of emotional intelligence. It means you can empathize with feelings that one may not be feeling oneself and respond in a way that is respectful and relaxing to others.

Be open-minded

Emotionally intelligent people are comfortable to approach because they are good listeners and can consider and understand other viewpoints. They are also receptive to learning new things and embracing novel ideas.

Listen to feedback

It is essential to be the type of person who can hear feedback, whether it is positive on a recent presentation or more critical advice on how you should commission tasks more efficiently.

Being receptive to feedback means taking responsibility for one’s actions and being willing to improve how one communicates with others.

Stay calm under pressure

It is essential to approach stressful situations with a calm and positive attitude. Pressures can quickly escalate, primarily when people are operating under deadlines, so keeping steady and concentrating on finding a solution will help everyone complete their goals.

History of Emotional Intelligence

In the 1930s, psychologist Edward Thorndike explained the concept of “social intelligence” as the ability to get along with other individuals.

During the 1940s, psychologist David Wechsler suggested that different practical elements of intelligence could play a critical role in how successful people are in life.

In the 1950s, the school of thought was known as humanistic psychology, and scholars such as Abraham Maslow concentrated attention on how people could build emotional strength.

Another critical concept to arise in the development of emotional intelligence was the concept of multiple intelligences . This idea was put forth in the mid-1970s by Howard Gardner, presenting the idea that intelligence was more than just a single, broad capacity.

Emotional intelligence did not come into our vernacular until around 1990. The term “emotional intelligence” was first utilized in 1985 as it was presented in a doctoral dissertation by Wayne Payne.

In 1987, there was an article written by Keith Beasley and published in Mensa Magazine that used the term emotional quotient or EQ.

Then in 1990, psychologists John Mayer and Peter Salovey published their milestone article, Emotional Intelligence , in the journal Imagination, Cognition, and Personality .

They described emotional intelligence as the capability to monitor one’s and others’ feelings and emotions, discriminate among them, and use this knowledge to guide one’s thinking and actions.

Salovey and Mayer also initiated a research study to develop accurate measures of emotional intelligence and explore its significance. For example, they found in one investigation that when a group of people saw an upsetting film, those who ranked high on emotional clarity, or the ability to recognize and label a mood that is being experienced, recovered more quickly.

In a different study, people who scored higher in the ability to perceive accurately, understand and appraise others’ emotions were sufficiently capable of responding flexibly to changes in their social environments and building supportive social networks.

But despite it being a relatively new term, attraction to the concept has grown tremendously. In 1995, the concept of emotional intelligence was popularized after the publication of Daniel Goleman’s book Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is emotional intelligence important in the workplace.

Researchers have indicated that emotional intelligence influences how excellently employees interact with their colleagues, and EI is also considered to play a role in how employees manage stress and conflict.

It also affects overall performance on the job. Other studies have connected emotional intelligence with job satisfaction.

Studies have shown that workers with higher scores on measures of EI also tend to be ranked higher on criteria of interpersonal functioning, leadership abilities, and stress management.

While standard intelligence was associated with leadership success, it alone was not enough. People who are prosperous at work are not just brilliant; they also have a high EI.

But emotional intelligence is not simply for CEOs and senior executives.

It is a quality that is essential at every level of a person’s career, from university students looking for internships to seasoned workers hoping to take on a leadership role.

Emotional intelligence is critical to success if one wants to succeed in the workplace and move up the career ladder.

Can emotional intelligence be taught?

As it turns out, the question whether emotional intelligence can be learned is not a straightforward one to answer.

Some psychologists and researchers claim that emotional intelligence is a skill that is not quickly learned or improved. Other psychologists and researchers, though, believe it can be improved with practice.

One key to improving EI is sustained practice – especially in high-stakes situations. Referring back to the above tips, one could read them and say those guidelines are pretty straightforward.

But, the challenging task is to do these practices in real-time and consistently. It takes practice to develop these skills. Then as you acquire them, you have to rehearse them under stress.

Can emotional intelligence be measured?

Several different assessments have arisen to gauge levels of emotional intelligence. These trials typically fall into one of two types: self-report tests and ability tests.

Self-report tests are the most abundant because they are the quickest to administer and score. Respondents respond to questions or statements on such tests by rating their behaviors.

For example, on a comment such as “I sense that I understand how others are feeling,” a test-taker might describe the statement as strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree.

On the other hand, ability tests involve people responding to situations and assessing their skills. These tests often require people to demonstrate their abilities, which a third party rates.

If one is taking an emotional intelligence trial issued by a mental health professional, here are two measures that could be used: Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) and the Emotional and Social Competency Inventory (ESCI).

What is the dark side of emotional intelligence?

The dark side of emotional intelligence is using one’s understanding of emotions manipulatively, to deceive, control, or exploit others.

High emotional intelligence can mask hidden agendas, enabling insincere charm or feigned empathy, potentially leading to deceitful or self-serving actions.

Boyatzis, R. E., & Goleman, D. (2011). Emotional and social competency inventory (ESCI): A user guide for accredited practitioners. Retrieved December , 17 , 2019.

Eurich, T. (2018). What self-awareness really is (and how to cultivate it). Harvard Business Review , 1-9.

Gardner, H. E. (2000). Intelligence reframed: Multiple intelligences for the 21st century . Hachette UK.

Goleman, D. (1996). Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ . Bloomsbury Publishing.

Mayer, J. D., Caruso, D. R., & Salovey, P. (1999). Emotional intelligence meets traditional standards for an intelligence. Intelligence, 27 (4), 267-298.

Mayer, J. D., & Salovey, P. (1993). The intelligence of emotional intelligence. Intelligence, 17 (4), 433-442.

Mayer, J. D., & Salovey, P. (2007). Mayer-Salovery-Caruso emotional intelligence test . Toronto: Multi-Health Systems Incorporated.

Payne, W. L. (1985). A study of emotion: developing emotional intelligence; self-integration; relating to fear, pain and desire.

Salovey, P., & Mayer, J. D. (1990). Emotional intelligence . Imagination, cognition and personality , 9 (3), 185-211.

Thorndike, R. L., & Stein, S. (1937). An evaluation of the attempts to measure social intelligence. Psychological Bulletin , 34 (5), 275.

Wechsler, D., & Kodama, H. (1949). Wechsler intelligence scale for children (Vol. 1). New York: Psychological corporation.

Home — Essay Samples — Psychology — Childhood Development — Human Growth and Development

Human Growth and Development

Categories: Childhood Development

About this sample

Words: 481 |

Published: Jan 31, 2024

Words: 481 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

Theoretical foundations of human growth and development, physical development, cognitive development, social and emotional development, environmental and genetic influences on human growth and development, lifespan development.

Freud, S. (1905). Three essays on the theory of sexuality. Standard Edition, 7, 123-255.
Erikson, E. (1950). Childhood and society. New York: Norton.
Piaget, J. (1952). The origins of intelligence in children. New York: International Universities Press.

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Promoting Young Children’s Social and Emotional Health

Teacher playing with stuffed animals during circle time

In a preschool classroom, some of the 3- and 4-year-old children smile, laugh, and giggle during free play; are curious about what happens next during story time; ask what and why questions while doing hands-on activities; and use words to express feelings and needs. In the toy area, Tom and Juan both reach for a small blue car. Tom says, “May I please have it first, then you have it later?” Juan replies, “You have it for five minutes and then I have it for five minutes.” Noticing this exchange, their teacher says, “Tom and Juan, you are talking about taking turns. What a great way to play together!”

Tom, Juan, and their classmates are a model of social and emotional health in preschool. Children who are socially and emotionally healthy tend to demonstrate, and continue to develop, several important behaviors and skills (adapted from McClellan & Katz 2001 and Bilmes 2012). They

Are usually in a positive mood
Listen and follow directions
Have close relationships with caregivers and peers
Care about friends and show interest in others
Recognize, label, and manage their own emotions
Understand others’ emotions and show empathy
Express wishes and preferences clearly
Gain access to ongoing play and group activities
Are able to play, negotiate, and compromise with others

Why social and emotional health matters

Teachers can promote children’s social and emotional health in many ways, for example, by organizing a material-rich environment to stimulate social interactions among children. This article focuses on two of the most important practices: building trusting relationships and conducting intentional teaching.

Establish trusting relationships

Young children develop and learn in the context of relationships. A trusting and caring teacher–child relationship is essential for children’s optimum development (Raikes & Edwards 2009). Children who have trusting relationships with their teachers are, on average, more willing to ask questions, solve problems, try new tasks, and express their thinking than their peers without such relationships (O’Connor & McCartney 2007). In her work supervising student teachers, Ho (the first author) often sees children developing positive social and emotional health as a result of close relationships with their teachers. For example, children learn to use words to express their feelings—such as Amy saying to Emily, “I am sad when you use hurting words!”—and to show empathy—as when Arjun gently pats Brian’s head and says, “Are you okay? Do you want to hold the teddy bear?”

Children benefit socially, emotionally, and academically when teachers intentionally create close, trusting relationships (Palermo et al. 2007). But gaining the trust of every child is not as simple as being nice and engaging. How can teachers create trusting relationships with all of the children? Consistently offering warmth, affection, respect, and caring is essential.

Showing warmth and affection consistently

Warmth and affection—even on bad days and when children are misbehaving—are critical to children’s well-being in early education settings (Ostrosky & Jung 2005). They contribute to developing secure relationships between children and adults, provide models of gentle behavior, and are linked with children’s ability to interact positively with peers (Twardosz 2005). The preschoolers we observed used gentle hands and kind words and positively interacted with peers most of the time. Their social and emotional well-being was nourished by their teachers’ warmth and affection, which is shown in the following examples:

Ms. Johnson displays a pleasant facial expression throughout the day. She smiles when greeting children in the morning, says goodbye in the afternoon, and acknowledges children’s appropriate behaviors.
Mr. Logan uses the appropriate tone of voice at all times. His speech is at normal pitch and volume; his tone is relaxed and soft. Even when he has to redirect a child’s behavior, he remains calm and warm to convey that his concern is with the behavior—not the child.
Ms. Aragon gives appropriate touches when necessary, such as a pat on the back, a handshake, hugs, and brief tickles.
Ms. Lizama moves physically close to the children and bends or crouches to be at the children’s eye level while talking to them.
Mr. Sharma often uses loving comments to show he cares: “I am so happy to see you this morning!,” “I missed you yesterday,” “I love seeing your smile!” And he is careful to make such comments to all of the children in his classroom.

Respecting and caring about every child

Showing respect is a key way to connect with children and strengthen positive relationships. It helps children feel more confident and competent to explore and learn (Dombro, Jablon, & Stetson 2011). Ms. Carnes establishes and maintains close personal bonds with every child in her classroom by consistently acting in respectful and caring ways. Specifically, she

Listens with full attenti on and restates what children say (often also seizing the opportunity to expose the children to new vocabulary). Jason, a 4-year-old, says, “Look, I made a truck with lots of Legos!” Ms. Carnes replies, “Oh, I see, Jason. You built a truck with dozens of Legos.” Jason adds, “I use this truck to deliver apples and bananas to the grocery store.” Ms. Carnes responds, “Using a truck to deliver nutritious fruits to the grocery store is helpful.” Listening to children attentively and reflectively enhances their self-worth and confidence. When teachers actively listen to children, they convey that they care about what the children have to say, and the children are more likely to share their thoughts, ideas, feelings, and stories.
Accepts and reflects children’s feel ings. Frowning, Jasper says to the teacher, “Michael has all the big blocks!” Ms. Carnes responds, “Jasper, you seem upset that there are no more large blocks to build with right now. It is difficult to wait!” Amy says with enthusiasm, “We are about to go outside!” Ms. Carnes answers, “The sparkles in your eyes tell me you can hardly wait to go outside. You are excited.” When they accept and reflect children’s feelings, teachers exhibit sensitivity and caring in a way children understand. Teachers’ acknowledgments make children feel heard and accepted (Duffy 2008). As a result, children feel safe to express their emotions—and receive support in identifying, labeling, and better understanding their emotions.
Spends private, quality time with individual chi ldren through one-on-one activities, such as story reading and game pla ying. Emily is sad when her mom leaves. Ms. Carnes reads her a book in a cozy corner with soft pillows and stuffed animals. Afterward, Emily is ready to explore and play in the classroom. Judy complains that no one wants to play with her at the tactile table. Ms. Carnes sits at the table and plays with Judy until another child joins the play. In addition, Ms. Carnes spends quality time with individual children by putting aside other work, moving to the child’s level, and conversing openly with the child. Ms. Carnes keeps track to ensure that she speaks with each child regularly, which deepens their relationship and builds trust (Gartrell 2007). Ms. Carnes finds time for these conversations throughout the day, especially during greeting, free play, snack, lunch, and departure time.

Teach social and emotional skills intentionally

Helping children develop social and emotional skills is the heart and soul of any good program for young children (Gordon & Browne 2014). Teachers (and all caregivers) play key roles in helping children develop social and emotional competence (Kostelnik et al. 2015). Teachers can intentionally support children’s social and emotional health by using children’s books, planning activities, coaching on the spot, giving effective praise, modeling appropriate behaviors, and providing cues.

Warmth and affection—even on bad days and when children are misbehaving—are critical to children’s well-being in early education.

Using children’s books

To connect the characters and situations in the book with the children’s experiences, Ms. Coz plans to read the book at least twice and also add it to the classroom library. During the second reading, she asks meaningful questions: “What do you think the characters are feeling?,” “How would you solve the problem?,” “Can you use words from the story to explain how you feel when you . . .?,” “What could we do differently if this happens in our classroom?” These open-ended questions enable children to talk about their own experiences, learn new vocabulary words, and practice social and emotional skills.

Planning activities

To extend and apply what children learn from reading stories, Ms. Coz plans follow-up activities, such as hands-on crafts, games, and songs. She often uses Book Nook guides, created by the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning ( http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/resources/strategies.html#booknook ). These guides help her embed social and emotional development activities into daily routines, including read-alouds. (See “ Activities for Supporting Children’s Social and Emotional Learning ” for some ideas adapted from Book Nook guides.)

Coaching on the spot

When they coach children on the spot, teachers help children realize what they are doing, understand how their actions affect others, and choose positive alternatives (Riley et al. 2008). For example, when Ryan and Ethan build a firehouse in the block area, Ethan grabs the fire truck from Ryan, and Ryan cries. Ms. Coz crouches down at Ethan’s level to look into his eyes; calmly and warmly, she says, “Ryan was still using the truck. When you took it away from him, he got upset. What could you do to make Ryan feel better?” After Ethan says he is sorry and gives back the fire truck, Ms. Coz says, “Next time if you want to play with the toy Ryan is using, could you ask if he will share?” Ms. Coz follows up by observing Ethan and providing immediate positive feedback on his desirable behavior.

Giving effective praise

Meaningful feedback pertinent to the task at hand in the form of effective praise is a powerful strategy for fostering children’s social and emotional development (Kostelnik et al. 2015). To make praise effective, teachers describe specifically what they see—without generalizing, evaluating, or making comparisons. When Emily finishes her drawing, Ms. Coz notices her picture and her smile. Ms. Coz says, “I see a blue sky, a yellow sun, and green grass around the big brown tree. This picture makes you happy, doesn’t it?” This praise is effective because Ms. Coz offers detailed, positive comments immediately after desirable behavior occurs. Noticing Ethan asking Ryan politely for a policewoman figure, Ms. Coz says, “Ethan, you used the magic words May I plea se? to ask for that policewoman while you and Ryan were building the firehouse together. Great job!” Smiling, Ethan responds, “We are friends and we can share things.”

Modeling appropriate behavior

Children learn by observing other people, getting ideas about how new behaviors are formed, and using the ideas to guide their actions (Bandura 1977). Many studies have found that modeling—or demonstrating appropriate behaviors—teaches and enhances children’s social and emotional skills (Katz & McClellan 1997; Hyson 2004). This research-based conclusion is evidenced in Ms. Coz’s and Ms. Carnes’s classes. Both teachers implement several noninvasive strategies—including modeling—that their center administrators created to support teachers in promoting socially and emotionally healthy behaviors. They display the strategies on the classroom wall and put them into action by

Moving closer to children, when needed, as a nonverbal cue to rethink behaviors
Modeling appropriate warm and respectful behavior throughout the day and at specific moments when a gentle reminder is needed
Using nonverbal gestures and contact (e.g., nodding the head, giving thumbs-up signs, and touching children gently on the shoulder) to send messages
Employing simple language (e.g., “Walking feet, please” and “Use gentle hands”) to set expectations and give reminders
Acknowledging a kind act on the spot or praising a group effort for a job well done
Placing a hand—gently—on a child’s hand to redirect attention and behavior

When children see teachers demonstrate these noninvasive strategies, they often smile, use their gentle hands, say please and thank you, give hugs and high fives, and use words to express their feelings.

In addition to being role models, the teachers use the children’s appropriate behaviors to model social and emotional skills. They carefully observe and record details about how children apply the target skills, and they share their observations with the children through puppet shows during circle time. Using puppets to demonstrate children’s appropriate behaviors helps children learn social and emotional skills meaningfully.

Providing cues

Providing cues to engage children in appropriate social behavior has been shown over time to improve their social behavior with their peers (Bovey & Strain 2005). Ms. Coz and Ms. Carnes often provide verbal cues to help some children participate in activities. Before playtime, for example, Ms. Carnes asks, “James, who are you going to ask to play with you at center time?” During playtime, she suggests, “Saanvi, can you ask Anna to build an airplane with you?” To teach sharing and turn taking, Ms. Coz asks Steven, who has been waiting to play with a toy dolphin for a while, “What magic words could you use to have a turn with the dolphin John is using?”

Both Ms. Coz and Ms. Carnes prominently display visual cues in their classrooms to assist children’s social and emotional interactions. For example, they provide teacher-made hand puppets to guide children to use quiet voices, helping hands, and walking feet. To help children calm down, they also created a “push wall”—a designated spot on the wall to push anger out—and use puppets to demonstrate the strategy. These puppets, demonstrations, and explanations are essential for clarifying and modeling appropriate behavior—and the visual cues are essential for reminding the children to practice what they have learned. Long-term visual cues function like a third teacher in the sense that children use the cues to remind one another of solutions and appropriate actions.

Children’s Books for Teaching Social and Emotional Skills

Can You Be a Friend?, by Nita Everly
Care Bears Caring Contest, by Nancy Parent, illus. by David Stein
Fox Makes Friends, by Adam Relf
How Do Dinosaurs Play with Their Friends?, by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague
How I Feel Frustrated, by Marcia Leonard
I Can Do It Myself (a Sesame Street Series), by Emily Perl Kingsley, illus. by Richard Brown
I’m in Charge of Me!, by David Parker, illus. by Sylvia Walker
Mouse Was Mad, by Linda Urban, illus. by Henry Cole
My Many Colored Days, by Dr. Seuss, illus. by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher
Sharing: How Kindness Grows, by Fran Shaw, illus. by Miki Sakamoto
When I’m Feeling Sad, by Trace Moroney
When Sophie Gets Angry—Really, Really Angry, by Molly Bang

Activities for Supporting Children’s Social and Emotional Learning

Helping hands chain : Trace and cut out multiple hands for each child. Place them in a pocket or baggie that is easily accessible. As you recognize a child’s helping hand behavior, have the child get a hand from their pocket and connect it to the class’s helping hand chain. The hands can be placed on the wall to wrap around the room. On a regular basis, celebrate how long the helping hand chain is getting!

Hand puppets : Create character puppets by having children color or paint the pictures, cut them out, and glue them to craft sticks. Once dry, children can bring their puppets to circle time and act out the story while you read the story aloud. Later, they can take the puppets to the story area or puppet center.

Moving to music : Choose songs with lyrics that encourage movement. Before you start, remind the children that they need to listen closely to the words so they know what actions to take. Classic songs like “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” work well. Many children’s CDs have great songs that involve following directions (try “My Ups and Downs,” and “Hands Are for Clapping,” by Jim Gill). Do the motions with the children as you listen to the songs. After listening to each song several times, children will build confidence and know which motions to do on their own. Point out to the children that they know what to do because they are being such good listeners.

Pass the feeling bag : Place an assortment of scenario picture cards in a bag. As music plays, the children pass the bag. When the music stops, one child picks out a card and identifies it. Have the child talk about how each scenario or item makes him feel and why. Allow children to take turns pulling out picture cards.

Feeling faces collage : Have children cut out different feeling faces from magazines. Mix nontoxic glue and water together in a small bowl. The children put the pictures on top of a piece of paper, take a paintbrush and dip it in glue solution, and paint over their pictures. They can hang their feeling faces collages on the wall.

Share box : Create a special share box that is only introduced during circle time. Children can decorate the box with primary colors or with a bold pattern. Inside the box, place items that can be shared, such as musical instruments, a box of chunky sidewalk chalk, playdough, or several sensory bottles.

Singing : After a story about sharing with friends, sing “Share, share, share your toys; share them with a friend. Share, share, share your toys, let’s all play pretend,” to the tune of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” After a story about feelings, sing “If You’re Happy and You Know It” with a variety of emotions and body gestures.

Note: Adapted with permission from Book Nook, created by the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning. To use Book Nook guides at no cost, visit http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/resources/strategies.html#booknook .

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Jeannie Ho , EdD, is a professor and early childhood education program coordinator at Montgomery College, in Rockville, Maryland. Her teaching and research focus is teaching practices and children’s social and emotional development. [email protected]

Suzanne Funk , MSEd, is director of Geneva Day School, in Potomac, Maryland, and is an adjunct professor in early childhood education at Montgomery College. She works with local child center directors to enhance the quality of services available for young children. [email protected]

Vol. 73, No. 1

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The Growth of Emotional Labour in Management and Labour Essay

Introduction, definition of terms, literature review.

This paper explores the problems posed by the growth of emotional labour in management and labour. The growing importance of emotional labour in the labour market (especially in service industries) informs this analysis. After weighing the impact of emotional labour on employee performance and labour practices, this paper shows that the growth of emotional labour bears significant managerial and labour implications.

Its managerial impact stems from the impact of emotional labour on work performance, employee burnout, and employee turnover. Its implications on the labour market manifests through the impact of emotional labour on labour practices and gender equality in the labour market. This paper affirms this observation by evaluating the theoretical and empirical work of other researchers.

This analysis occurs in the literature review section where the paper explores the managerial implications of emotional labour. The implications of emotional labour on labour practices also complement this analysis because it demonstrates how the unique dynamics of emotional labour affect managerial actions.

The understanding of empirical and theoretical constructs of emotional labour supports these analyses. In the discussion section, this paper analyses the implications of emotional labour on labour practices and the management of employees.

This analysis informs the conclusion of the paper, which shows that the growth of emotional labour poses significant challenges for management and the labour market because it leads to high employee turnover, job dissatisfaction, and inequalities in labour practices.

Phenomenology –A study of human experiences that do not have a basis in objective reality

Norms – the beliefs and values of a particular community

Job Autonomy – The independence and freedom of employees

Managerial Implications of Emotional Labour

Most of the literature focusing on the implications of emotional labour in the workplace emphasise on the negative impact of emotional labour. Mainly, these literatures focus on the role of emotional labour in increasing drug abuse and alcohol abuse in the workplace. The same studies have also shown that emotional labour causes employee absenteeism (Morris & Feldman 1996).

From such arguments, researchers like Hochschild (1989) believe that emotional labour detaches employees from their true feelings because they have to exude mixed emotions, which may not necessarily reflect what they feel. This way, Hochschild (1989) believes that emotional labour bears significant negative consequences for the psychological well-being of workers.

Some researchers have however questioned the theory that emotional labour bears a negative impact on psychological well-being of employees by suggesting that different occupations require different degrees of emotional labour.

In this regard, researchers such as Douglas & Norsby (2007) have said jobs that require intense emotional labour lead to low job satisfaction, while jobs that required low emotional labour do not have a significant impact on the psychological well-being of workers.

Morris & Feldman (1996) report these findings after they did the study using questionnaire responses from table servers. The study measured emotional labour as a measure of the psychological well-being of workers.

A different study by Rowen (2003) shows a different interpretation of the relationship between emotional labour and psychological well-being. The study showed that the relationship between the two variables were not straightforward.

This outcome contradicted studies by Hochschild (1989) which showed that emotional labour had a negative impact on employee well-being. Instead, the outcome of the study showed that employee well-being was also subject to job autonomy.

Therefore, albeit a job may require intense emotional labour, if the workers have adequate job autonomy, they may not suffer the negative psychological well-being that Hochschild (1989) proposed.

Implications of Emotional Labour on Labour Practices

Many researchers affirm the ability of women to express greater emotional sensitivity than their male counterparts do (Noon 2010). For example, women smile more frequently than their male counterparts do (Morris & Feldman 1996). Consequently, many employers associate positive emotions in the workplace with women.

Rafaeli (1989) supports this fact by suggesting that female store clerks conveyed many positive emotions in the workplace (compared to their male counterparts). His reasons for the positive portrayal of female emotions stem from the socialisation of women as the more friendly gender (compared to men), the ability of women to encode their emotions better than men do, and the strong need for social approval within the female gender.

Hochschild (1989) agrees with the suggestion that female employees are more socialised than men are. He explains that this observation is true because the society expects women to be better emotional handlers than men are (both in the workplace environment and at home).

To explain his point, Hochschild (1989) noted, “the world turns to women for mothering, and this fact silently attaches itself to different job requirements” (p. 182). The implication for this observation centre on the wider societal expectation of women to perform better than men do (in occupations that require intense emotional labour). The same expectations also remain true for the home environment.

Theoretical Understanding

Many researchers have explored the implications of emotional labour on organisations but the emotional labour theory offers the best insight into the consequences of emotional labour on managerial practices and the labour market.

Mainly, the emotional labour theory outlines that emotional labour does not always lead to negative outcomes. Nonetheless, the theory fails to consider the different emotional experiences of employees in the organisation.

Other theories of emotional labour, which explain the implications of emotional labour in the organisation, include the concept of structuralism. The structuralism concept mainly focuses on investigating the macro-social aspects of emotional labour and people’s understanding of the concept (in the organisational setting) (Rowen 2003).

The structuralism concept also considers the “social actor” as a passive entity in emotional management. This way, the current social order in the labour market prevails because when the social entity (worker) is passive, selfish, and constrained, social inequalities occur. In other words, the structuralism concept outlines that the portrayal of emotions (like shame and guilt) work to maintain the existing social order.

This argument is especially true for gender roles in the workplace because the expectation of different emotional labour roles often conform to social norms (Rowen 2003). Therefore, on one hand, people reward most socially conforming norms in the workplace with social acceptance, while the society opposed non-conformance to social roles through rejection and shame.

Somewhat, the concept of structuralism explains how emotional labour does not lead to negative outcomes. For example, if a service provider and the recipient of the service share the same emotional expectations, there is no basis for the realisation of negative emotional outcomes.

Adherence to societal norms normally provides the basis for the similarities between the service provider and service recipient. In fact, Rowen (2003) says positive emotions normally occur when the service provider and recipient share equal expectations.

Recently, some cognitive theorists shifted their focus for understanding the implications of emotional labour from an emotional context to an emotional process (Noon 2010). In fact, such theorists say it is possible to evaluate one’s emotional experience with their emotional performance and its effect on other people.

How employees display their emotions therefore outline their internal emotional dispositions (Noon 2010). Rowen (2003) warns that using the cognitive theory to explain emotional responses may lead to different outcomes. In other words, one service provider may have a very different emotional understanding (of a situation) from another service provider.

This difference may occur because of several issues, including how the service providers understand their roles. Often, in such instances, negative emotional outcomes may occur. For example, when an unhappy customer interacts with an exhausted service provider, feelings of embarrassment and shame may emerge from the interaction.

When such an outcome occurs, the service providers (who may be working many hours in a day) may perceive the customer’s response as inappropriate and therefore react by showing anger towards him. Ultimately, this stressful situation amounts to emotional frustration.

Phenomenology researchers have a different understanding of emotional labour from cognitive theorists. Their understanding focuses on the “significant, dynamic, and the moral nature of emotions, as opposed to the broad macro understanding of the emotional interaction” (Rowen 2003, p. 5).

Therefore, phenomenology researchers consider the emotions of employees as an attachment of their moral and individual perceptions of the world. Phenomenology researchers also attach a lot of importance to an individual’s feeling as a way to foster self-knowledge (Rowen 2003).

This belief stems from the understanding of people’s emotional manifestation as a justification for their reactions. Usually, if it is impossible to justify the emotion, then it is easy for people to judge an action as inappropriate.

The growth of emotional labour poses significant challenges for management and labour. However, the extent of the influence of emotional labour varies, depending on the nature of the job. This paper shows that different researchers have differed on the extent that emotional labour influences worker performance.

Indeed, this paper shows that some researchers support the view that emotional labour leads to low job satisfaction and worker exhaustion, while other researchers have cautioned against assuming a direct and negative relationship of emotional labour with job performance, because they believe the nature of the job influences the job performance.

For management purposes, the influence of emotional labour on job performance should be a critical issue for decision-making because poor job performance may affect negatively an organisation’s productivity.

More importantly, the understanding that emotional labour detaches employees from their natural personalities should be of high concern to management because employees who do not feel like they are in their “natural element” cannot perform well.

This is a serious managerial issue for managers to rectify by assigning the right employees to work in jobs that fit their personalities. Here, there needs to be a careful emphasis on the recruitment and selection process of new employees because this is the only way for managers to identify employee characteristics that fit different job descriptions.

Introducing managerial sensitivity to the unique dynamics of every employee is also an important strategy for reducing an organisation’s employee turnover because many researchers have linked job dissatisfaction (from emotional labour) with high employee turnover.

This outcome is beneficial for different organisations because it can save managers a lot of money (which would be lost in lack of innovation and the recruitment of new employees).

Apart from the managerial challenges of emotional labour, this paper also points out that emotional labour causes significant labour disparities between men and women. So far, this paper has demonstrated the ability of women to be better performers in jobs that require intense emotional labour.

Their ability to perform better than men informs the preference by many employers to employ women in jobs that require intense emotional labour (Morris & Feldman 1996). This preference promotes gender imbalance in the organisation. More importantly, it discriminates against men who would want to apply for jobs that are naturally emotionally intensive (like service industry jobs).

Conversely, this gender imbalance maintains the status quo, where employers prefer women to work in mass production roles while men work in managerial positions (Scholarios & Taylor 2011, p. 1291). This dynamic complicates existing discriminatory practices in the workplace that prevent women from scaling the managerial ladder.

Traditional inhibitions like mothering roles and the lack of supervisor support therefore add to the complexity witnessed by women in securing high status jobs. T

he growth of emotional intensive jobs therefore concentrates a large population of female workers in intensive and lower-status work, while men scale the managerial ladder and secure higher status positions. This dynamic creates an imbalance in the distribution of jobs across the labour market, mostly to the detriment of women.

After weighing the findings of this paper, it is safe to say the growth of emotional labour poses significant problems for management and the existing labour dynamics in the workplace. Notably, the growth of emotional labour poses significant challenges to management because it affects job satisfaction and increases worker burnout.

These dynamics have a serious consequence on the performance of an organisation because it may increase employee turnover and eventually inhibit organisational performance. These implications may have a negative economic effect on an organisation.

Since emotional labour has significant gender implications, this paper demonstrates that emotional labour causes significant gender imbalances in the organisation. The perception among employers that female employees have a better emotional display than men do, increase the concentration of women in emotionally intensive jobs because employers believe they can perform better at this level.

Conversely, this dynamic increases their concentration in mass production jobs. Albeit some employers are bound to discriminate against male employees who may want to work in such low job levels, a bulk of the victims of such discriminatory tendencies are women (Noon 2010).

Women stand the best chance to lose by experiencing a “glass ceiling” that limits their chances of occupying other employment positions in the organisation (such as high status jobs). The growth of emotional labour therefore limits the possibility of women to occupy high status jobs in the workplace.

Conversely, male employees experience more emotionally intensive labour processes because they are ill equipped to manage their emotions (compared to women). The inequalities between male and female employees (in the provision of emotional labour) therefore pose significant challenges to the realisation of gender balance in the workplace.

This situation may lead to undesirable workplace dynamics. Comprehensively, the growth of emotional labour poses significant challenges for management and the labour market because it may lead to high employee turnover, job dissatisfaction, and inequalities in labour practices.

Douglas, J & Norsby 2007, Gender Differences In Emotional Labor Processes , University of Kansas, Kansas.

Hochschild, A 1989, The second shift , Viking, New York.

Morris, A & Feldman, D 1996, ‘The Dimensions, Antecedents and Consequences of Emotional labor,’ Academy Of Management Review , vol. 21 no. 4, pp. 986-1010.

Noon, M 2010, ‘The shackled runner: time to rethink positive discrimination,’ Work Employment Society, vol. 24, p. 728.

Rafaeli, A 1989, ‘When clerks meet customers: A test of variables related to emotional expression on the job,’ Journal of Applied Psychology , vol. 74, pp. 385-393.

Rowen, G 2003, Emotional Labour, Theories of Emotion, and Social Exchange Theory: Examining Emotions in the Context of an Evolving Service Sector ,

Scholarios, D & Taylor, P 2011, ‘Beneath the glass ceiling: Explaining gendered role segmentation in call centres,’ Human Relations , vol. 64 no. 10, pp. 1291- 1314.

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Bibliography

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Nestlé Company and Child Labour Exploitation
Role of Codes of Conduct in Child Labour Practice
Business Ethics and Child Labour
Labour Market Trends in the UAE and Global Markets
International Labour Organisation in Australia
Green Business Practices, Globalisation and Labour
A summary of Taylor’s “Selections from the Principles of Scientific Management”
Work and Employment
Leadership Styles: Nelson Mandela and Margaret Thatcher
Purchase of a Franchise
Personnel Management: a Selection Interview

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16 Emotional Development Examples (2024)
Emotional Intelligence Essay
Emotional Intelligence and Self Reflection Free Essay Example
Emotional Intelligence Essay
Emotional Maturity Essay Example
Emotional Intelligence Essay

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🔥A Journey of Growth
Are You Average?

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How to Write a Personal Growth Essay
Central to the personal growth essay is the emphasis on the transformative journey of an individual. It's not just a compilation of events or a simple chronological tale. This essay highlights your understanding, maturity, and moments of self-discovery. It narrates how experiences, both monumental and subtle, mold perspectives and guide ...
Essays About Personal Growth: Top 5 Examples and 8 Prompts
5. Personal Growth for Leaders. Leaders must adapt and address problems efficiently and decisively as they move through a fast-changing landscape. Elaborate on how the pursuit of personal growth helps leaders deliver in their enormous role in organizations, companies, and communities. 6.
102 Personal Growth Essay Topic Ideas & Examples
If you're looking for inspiration for your next personal growth essay, here are 102 topic ideas and examples to get you started: The importance of setting and achieving personal goals. Overcoming fear of failure. Learning to embrace change. The power of positive thinking. How to cultivate a growth mindset.
The Path to Personal Growth
The first aspect of personal growth is focused on re-framing our struggles. What I mean by this is, the next time we face a problem, the best way to overcome it is to see it differently. For ...
Two Lessons on Emotional Growth
Our emotional side is composed of two primary motivations, de Botton says. The first is to achieve connection, the second it to reach self-expression. 1) Connection: Connection can be understood as a desire to move away from loneliness, shame, and isolation, and toward opportunities for understanding, sincerity, and communion.
94 Emotional Development Essay Topic Ideas & Examples
5 min. Welcome to our list of emotional development essay topics! Whether you want to write about emotional intelligence or feelings, essay topics presented here will definitely inspire you. Besides, our catchy and emotional topics are suitable for university and high school students alike. We will write.
≡ Personal Growth Essay Examples for College by GradesFixer
Essay Examples on Personal Growth and Development. Essay examples. Essay topics. 155 essay samples found. Sort & filter. 1 Travel: Personal Experience . ... As a child, teen, and adult we go through many stages of changes and developments from our physical stature to our emotional stages. Even the way we think can sometimes go from wanting to ...
113 Emotional Intelligence Research Topics & Essay Examples
113 Emotional Intelligence Research Topics & Essay Examples. Emotional intelligence essays are an essential part of education for many professions that involve working with people, such as managers and teachers. The concept is somewhat new, having been first introduced half a century ago and popularized at the end of the last century.
Personal Growth Essay
Personal Growth. Perhaps this topic is the most popular one since it delves into the heart of what the admissions essay is all about: helping the college gain better insight into an applicant's personality and character. Some schools ask targeted questions — "What was the most challenging event you have ever faced, and how have you grown from it?" — while others leave the topic open ...
Positive Psychology: Emotions, Mindfulness, Growth Essay
The primary goal of this essay is to discuss the core concepts of positive psychology by focusing on emotions, flow experiences, mindfulness, posttraumatic growth, and positive institutions while evaluating the effects of positive emotions with the assistance of personal experiences and additional research. In the end, the drawbacks and unclear ...
Emotional Growth Essay Examples
Emotional Growth Essays. Effects of Our Upbringing. People's susceptibility to being brainwashed largely depends on their socio-emotional and psychological development during childhood. In the book "The Rape of the Mind," the author explicitly explains some innate upbringing issues that can be exploited for mind-controlling or ...
Emotional Development Essay Topics
Emotional Development Essay Titles. Paradise of the Blind by Huong, Illustrates Human Emotional Growth and Natural Parallel Changes. The Impact of Poverty on Children's Social and Emotional Development. The Impact of Pretend Play on Children's Social and Emotional Growth. Learning to Get Along with Others and Feeling Safe in the World.
Essays About Emotions: Top 6 Examples And Prompts
It also included the importance of emotions and theories around them. 6. The Most Powerful Emotion in Marketing May Surprise You by Oliver Yonchev. "The emotional part of the brain processes information five times more quickly than the rational part, which is why tapping into people's emotions is so powerful.".
Towards a Strong Foundation: Social and Emotional Development in Young
Social and Emotional Development and Foundational Relationships. Social and emotional development refers to the processes whereby children learn to identify and express emotions, focus attention and manage impulses, successfully navigate relationships with peers and adults, develop a positive self-concept, make responsible decisions, and solve problems (e.g., Jones, McGarrah, & Kahn, 2019).
Emotional Development Essay
Download Full Essay. Emotional development is a critical aspect of human growth, encompassing the processes by which individuals learn to recognize, express, regulate, and understand their own emotions as well as those of others. From early childhood through adolescence and into adulthood, emotional development is a dynamic, complex journey ...
Any tips for writing about a difficult or emotional ...
Writing about difficult or emotional experiences can be both impactful and challenging. The key is to focus on personal growth and learning that came as a result of the experience. Here are some tips to help you navigate through the process: 1. Be honest and genuine: Share your true emotions and experiences surrounding the situation, but be mindful of striking a balance between vulnerability ...
48 Personal Growth Essay Topic Ideas & Examples
Personal Growth and Development. From a personal perspective, the strategy I intend to use to address the issue of diversity in the workplace is to be open-minded and willing to listen to others before making judgments. We will write. a custom essay specifically for you by our professional experts. 809 writers online.
Emotional Intelligence (EQ): Components and Examples
Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to perceive, understand, and manage one's own emotions and relationships. It involves being aware of emotions in oneself and others and using this awareness to guide thinking and behavior. Emotionally intelligent individuals can motivate themselves, read social cues, and build strong relationships.
Emotional development
emotional development, emergence of the experience, expression, understanding, and regulation of emotions from birth and the growth and change in these capacities throughout childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.The development of emotions occurs in conjunction with neural, cognitive, and behavioral development and emerges within a particular social and cultural context.
Human Growth and Development: [Essay Example], 481 words
Published: Jan 31, 2024. Table of contents. Human growth and development is a complex and multi-faceted process that encompasses physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and psychological changes across the lifespan. Understanding human growth and development is crucial for various fields such as education, healthcare, psychology, and sociology ...
Emotional Growth & Development
Emotional growth is an ongoing process that an individual undergoes through life experiences. Through each experience, an individual can improve their emotional regulation skills and strengthen ...
Promoting Young Children's Social and Emotional Health
Teachers and caregivers promote children's social and emotional health by establishing trusting relationships, created when teachers express warmth, affection, and respect. Teachers can intentionally teach and enhance these skills using evidence-based strategies to teach, model, and reinforce positive behaviors.
The Growth of Emotional Labour in Management and Labour Essay
The growing importance of emotional labour in the labour market (especially in service industries) informs this analysis. After weighing the impact of emotional labour on employee performance and labour practices, this paper shows that the growth of emotional labour bears significant managerial and labour implications. We will write a custom ...