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Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 233 (2016) 128 – 132

Annual International Scientific Conference Early Childhood Care and Education, ECCE 2016,
12-14 May 2016, Moscow, Russia

Development of Socio-Emotional Competence in Primary School

Children
Kristina S. Tarasovaa
a
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Mokhovaya st 11/9, Moscow, 125009, Russia

Abstract

This article investigates the subject of development of socio-emotional competence (SEC) in primary school children. Today,
much attention is given to children’s intellectual development and especially in primary school age when studying is their
main activity. However, the social and emotional development of children is no less important, but still there is not much
evidence about how it occurs at this age stage. We made research to prove a hypothesis that SEC development in primary
school children is a heterochronical process with the general level of socio-emotional competence increasing with age.
According to the results obtained, there is no statically significant difference in the overall SEC level between the youngest
and oldest participants in the survey. Nevertheless, the level of such SEC components as self-awareness and social skills in
the older children is significantly higher, proving that development of socio-emotional competence doesn’t proceed evenly by
all the SEC components in primary school age.

©
© 2016
2016TheTheAuthors. Published
Authors. by Elsevier
Published Ltd. Ltd.
by Elsevier This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of ECCE 2016.
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of ECCE 2016.
Keywords: Socio-emotional competence (SEC); Primary school children; Development

________________

* Tarasova K.S. Tel.: +7-495-632-65-00; +7-916-323-56-50

E-mail address: christinap@bk.ru

1877-0428 © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of ECCE 2016.
doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.10.166
 Kristina S. Tarasova / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 233 (2016) 128 – 132 129

1. Introduction

Exploring the social and emotional sphere in primary school children is an issue of equal current interest to
both psychologists and teachers and caregivers due to increasing social demands for socio-emotional competence
(SEC) as a basic element of conscious management of social behavior. A wide range of terms have been used to
describe this kind of abilities, such as communicative competence [1], emotional competence [2], competence in
communication [3], social competence [4], emotional intelligence [5] and emotional literacy [6]. One of the most
integrative constructs that has lately gained popularity among researchers is socio-emotional competence, which
we determine, derives from D.N. Goleman’s concept [7], as a system of abilities that includes the following
components: self-awareness, empathy, communicative motivation, self-regulation and social skills.
There is much evidence that certain socio-emotional abilities increase and strengthen during the age between
preschool and adolescence [8]. But there is not enough data on how the process of socio-emotional competence
development proceeds in primary school age. Does SEC development represent an even and steady accretion in
all the components, or do some of the socio-emotional abilities grow faster than others? Bardyshevskaya M. K.
[9] points out that the criteria of heterochrony in child emotional and personal development are not precise,
explicit and operationalized as yet. When applying the matter, various questions still remain unanswered. Which
of the SEC components can already be sufficiently developed in second graders, and which are to be formed only
by the end of primary school age? Are there significant differences in the general level of socio-emotional
competence of primary school pupils?
The general hypothesis of our study is that the development of particular SEC components proceeds
heterochronically in primary school children with a general increase in the socio-emotional competence level, on
the whole, from the second to the fourth grade.

2. Method

We used A. Faupel and P. Sharp’s technique for assessing the social and emotional competence of children
aged 7 to 11 years [10]. The diagnostic tool allows us to assess the level of socio-emotional abilities in primary
school children by singling out the following components: empathy, communicative motivation, self-awareness,
self-regulation and social skills, in addition to the SEC overall level. Evaluation is done by using three
standardized questionnaires: one for a child, one for teachers, one for parents or other caregivers. The
questionnaires consist of 25 statements with 4 response options: “Completely agree”, “Agree”, “Disagree”,
“Completely disagree”. The relevant score varies from 1 to 4 depending on the significance of the manifestation.
The participants of our study included 192 pupils of grades 2, 3 and 4 from the 1582 Moscow school (110
girls and 82 boys), their parents and teachers. The average age of the children was 9.4 years.

3. Results and discussion

The aim of the first step of our study was to test the total level of socio-emotional competence in primary
school children. According to the results, 27.5% of all the participants have a low level of socio-emotional
competence, 39.9% of primary school children have an average level of socio-emotional competence, and 32.6%
of pupils of grades 2-4 have a high SEC level.
Further, based on the results of the diagnostics in terms of all the scales’ measurements and the total SEC level
using cluster analysis we divided the data into 3 groups: 1. Children with a low SEC level; 2. Children with an
average SEC level; 3. Children with high SEC levels. The first group comprised 49 children (23 girls and 26
boys), of which there were 10 pupils of 2nd grade, 14 students of 3rd grade and 25 fourth-graders. The group with
130 Kristina S. Tarasova / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 233 (2016) 128 – 132

an average SEC level consisted of 71 children (35 girls and 36 boys), including 30 second graders, 20 third
graders and 21 fourth graders. The group with a high SEC level was composed of 58 participants (43 girls and 15
boys), of which there were 14 pupils of 2nd grade, 18 students of 3rd grade and 26 students of 4th year.
The mean rates of all the indicators for each group are represented in the table below.

Table 1. Mean rates of groups with low, average and high SEC levels by components.

Low SEC level Average SEC level High SEC level

Total 59.43 67.06 74.17
Empathy 2.84 3.22 3.42
Communicative
2.47 2.77 3.19
motivation
Self-awareness 2.61 2.77 3.10
Self-regulation 2.33 2.70 3.07
Social skills 2.77 3.06 3.37

Statically significant differences (p <0.0001, Kruskal-Wallis test) were found in all the parameters between the
clusters, which confirms the accuracy of deviding the participants according to the SEC level in our research.
Distribution of children from different classes in the groups is quite even.
The results show no significant difference between the total SEC levels of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th graders, which
seems to us an interesting output and refutes the general hypothesis about the increase of socio-emotional
competence in primary school children with age.
However, there are statically significant differences by the several SEC components between students of
second and fourth grades in the level of self-awareness (p = 0.038) and social skills (p = 0.039). Increasing self-
awareness from the second to the fourth grade may have justification in the characteristics of primary school age.
The important new formations of this age stage are emerging differentiated self-esteem, reflection, an ability to
analyze, elaboration of knowledge about oneself and the world that allow primary school children to better
understand themselves and to assess their capabilities, their strengths and weaknesses, their position in the class
and other social groups more adequately [11]. The development of social skills from the second to the fourth
grades also seems logical to us due to the fact that the fourth-graders obtained more extensive experience of
communication both with peers and adults in various social contexts that may require diverse social skills.
Children in the 4th year of studying are usually included in a greater number of social groups than second-graders,
and they encounter more opportunities to practice their social skills. Besides, the fourth year students find
themselves on the borderline of the entry into early adolescence, the main activity of which unlike that of 2nd
graders will be interpersonal communication rather than studying. Thus, the development of social skills, which
are remarkably important for successful communication, prepares the transition from primary school age to
adolescence for fourth-graders.
What we find to be a rather interesting result is the lack of statically significant differences in the general level
of socio-emotional competence between the pupils of 2nd, 3rd and 4th grades. The data admit an assumption that
socio-emotional competence, its level and pattern, are more likely to be an individual than age-specific feature.
According to the output, the diagnostics and development of socio-emotional competence are gaining a special
meaning in working with children. If the level of socio-emotional competence doesn’t naturally increase in such
important components as empathy, communicative motivation and self-regulation with child’s maturation, the
need for purposeful work to develop the deficit skills remains underestimated.
Nevertheless, the absence of significant differences in the overall SEC level may have another explanation. It
can also be presumed that the overall SEC level increases with age, but not within the boundaries of the age
surveyed. A leap in the development of socio-emotional competence might occur in the first grade, when the
 Kristina S. Tarasova / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 233 (2016) 128 – 132 131

systematic studying begins, and a child enters a stable social group, this is especially the case with children who
did not attend a kindergarten. The start of school life encourages the development of children's self-control,
reflection, goal-setting and social skills. It is also possible that further qualitative leap in SEC development
happens in adolescence, when interpersonal communication becomes a leading activity rather than studying as is
the case in younger school age. Changes in the total SEC level and its profile that happen with a child’s entry into
primary school age and adolescence were beyond the scope of our study. The lack of data allowing us to
compose a more general picture of socio-emotional competence development in children is a limitation of our
study, narrowing the possibility of interpreting the data and making conclusions, but at the same time it provides
a path for future investigation.
The significant differences revealed between the levels of self-awareness and social skills of second and
fourth-graders are interpreted by us, based on the new formations and developmental tasks of primary school
children. Reflection and differentiated self-esteem are important new formations of this age stage, which
normally appear by the end of primary school age, and may not yet fully show in its first half - in the second
grade. The development of social skills facilitates conversion to adolescence where interpersonal communication
will be the leading activity [12].

4. Conclusion

In our research we tried to examine the development of socio-emotional competence in primary school
children by dividing the sample into age strata by the grades they study in and comparing their results of the
overall SEC level and the level of its each component. The further research in this field suggests the expansion of
the sample in order to gain more reliable information. Adding to the sample children of preschool and adolescent
ages may offer new possibilities in studying the development of socio-emotional competence in children.
The data testify that the general hypothesis of our survey was confirmed in part: no statically significant
differences in the total SEC level among pupils of 2nd, 3rd and 4th grades were detected. On the other hand, the
level of self-awareness and social skills in fourth-graders was found to be significantly higher than that of second
graders. Thus, the development of the socio-emotional competence components does proceed heterochronically,
but no general increase in the total SEC level from the second to the fourth grades of primary school was
observed.

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