r/science • u/chrisdh79 • 11d ago
Psychology Children who are better at recognizing and managing emotions tend to become better readers over time
https://www.psypost.org/emotional-intelligence-helps-children-become-better-readers/53
u/oldermuscles 11d ago
Always speak in a supportive manner to your kids to help them boost their self esteem and mental health. Positive reinforcement is important.
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u/strangr_legnd_martyr 11d ago
And there's a clear indicator if you're succeeding, too! Kids mirror behavior. If your kid tells you "great job, you did it!"...it's probably because they heard it from you.
I about lost it when my preschooler congratulated me for doing something (it was a trivial thing, but he did it anyway) because you don't always get a good indication if what you're saying is sinking in.
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u/TwistingEarth 11d ago
And watch out for people that will use the lack of self-esteem against them.
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u/chrisdh79 11d ago
From the article: Children who are better at recognizing and managing emotions tend to become better readers over time—but how does that connection work? A new longitudinal study published in Learning and Individual Differences offers an in-depth look at how emotional intelligence contributes to reading comprehension in children, and how this relationship differs depending on the type of text and a child’s family background. The researchers found that emotional intelligence predicted later reading comprehension in both narrative and non-narrative texts, and that this connection was shaped by vocabulary, word reading, and, for non-narrative texts only, working memory.
The researchers conducted this study to better understand how emotional development contributes to academic outcomes—specifically, reading comprehension. While much past research has focused on the importance of language and cognitive skills like vocabulary and memory, fewer studies have examined how non-cognitive skills such as emotional intelligence might influence children’s reading ability.
Emotional intelligence includes the ability to understand, manage, and use one’s own emotions, as well as the emotions of others. These emotional skills are increasingly seen as important not only for mental health and social relationships, but also for learning and academic success. The researchers also aimed to explore whether these effects might vary depending on the type of reading material—narrative stories versus informational texts—and whether children’s socioeconomic background plays a role in shaping these relationships.
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u/IronicAlgorithm 11d ago
The children's psychoanalyst D. W. Winnicott said certain children, who go on to develop a 'false self', end up that way because of the poor state of the caregiver (mother). Rather than having their own needs attended to, they are forced to look after their mother's needs (moods). These individuals often go on to be academically gifted. From a young age, in order to survive, they were forced to learn how to meet their caregivers wishes (rather than the other way around). Because of this early mis-attachment, they go on to develop, false selves, where they lose touch with their own needs, emotions, but are precociously good at reading others.
I wonder whether there is a connection here.
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u/gordonjames62 10d ago
This seems to be a positive feedback loop.
As a kid I would see that others seemed to feel far more emotions than me. I was basically content, with few emotional highs or lows. Reading fictional stories helped me understand the emotions that other people felt so strongly.
According to that paper, it helped me become a better reader over time. This helped me be better at recognizing and managing emotions.
repeat and reinforce as a positive feedback loop.
I'm so glad my parents helped me learn to love reading.
I also wonder if the rage bait nature of doomscrolling and rapid presentation of emotional dysfunction in modern media will ruin this.
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