The purpose of this study was to examine the relations of the emotional intelligence and peer competence of preschoolers to their kindergarten adjustment. The following research questions were posed to serve the purpose:
1. What is the relationship ...
The purpose of this study was to examine the relations of the emotional intelligence and peer competence of preschoolers to their kindergarten adjustment. The following research questions were posed to serve the purpose:
1. What is the relationship between the emotional intelligence of preschoolers and their kindergarten adjustment?
1-1. What is the relationship between the emotional intelligence of preschoolers and their kindergarten adjustment according to gender?
1-2. What is the relationship between the emotional intelligence of preschooler and their kindergarten adjustment according to age?
2. What is the relationship between peer competence and kindergarten adjustment?
2-1. What is the relationship between peer competence and kindergarten
adjustment according to gender?
2-2. What is the relationship between peer competence and kindergarten
adjustment according to age?
3. What is the relations of the emotional intelligence and peer
competence of preschoolers to their kindergarten adjustment?
The subjects in this study were 264 preschoolers who were at the Western age of 3, 4 and 5 and attended seven different public kindergartens in the city of Incheon. They were tested on emotional intelligence, peer competence and kindergarten adjustment by 12 teachers. Three different inventories were utilized after the inventories were rearranged by this researcher. One instrument was Kim Kyun-hee(1998)'s Preschooler Emotional Intelligence Rating Scale for Teacher, and another was Park Joo-hee and Lee Eun-hae(2001)'s Preschooler Peer Competence Scale. The third was Park Yoon- jung(1997)'s Kindergarten Adjustment Questionnaire that reorganized an inventory to suit Korean preschoolers. The collected data were analyzed with a SPSS 15.0 program.
The major findings of the study were as follows:
First, there was a close correlation between the emotional intelligence of the preschoolers and their kindergarten adjustment. Among the preschool boys, utilization of their own emotion, one of the sub-factors of emotional intelligence, was most closely linked to kindergarten adjustment In the case of the preschool girls, peer relationship had the strongest correlation to kindergarten adjustment. The older preschoolers were better at emotional regulation, impulsiveness restraint, utilization of their own emotion, awareness of others' emotion and consideration.
The utilization of their own emotion, part of emotional intelligence, had the closest correlation to ability, one of the sub-factors of kindergarten adjustment, in all the children irrespective of gender and age. It indicated that those who kept trying to achieve something though they failed were better at understanding and complying with the verbal directions of their kindergarten teachers and at changing the way they behaved.
Second, there was a very significant correlation between the peer competence and kindergarten adjustment of the preschoolers in general. The initiative of the preschool boys was closely linked to their kindergarten adjustment, and the socializing of the preschool girls had a close correlation to their kindergarten adjustment. Among those aged 3, initiative was closely correlated to kindergarten adjustment, and as for the four-year-olds, social ability had a strong correlation to kindergarten adjustment. In the case of the five-year-olds, socializing was closely correlated to kindergarten adjustment. In all the children, leadership, one of the sub-factors of kindergarten adjustment, had the closest correlation to peer competency regardless of gender and age. It seemed because leadership had something in common with socializing, social ability and initiative that were the sub-factors of peer competence, as leadership refers to proposing what to do first, making a challenge to new activities, guiding peers during play, giving explanations about that and interacting with unfamiliar peers.
Third, regarding the relationship of emotional intelligence and peer competence to kindergarten adjustment, kindergarten adjustment was under the largest influence of initiative, part of peer competence, followed by emotional regulation, impulsiveness restraint and utilization of their own emotion, which were all the sub-factors of emotional intelligence. The findings suggest that in order to ensure successful kindergarten adjustment, preschoolers should be taught to foster their initiative, which is an ability to express themselves efficiently and propose what to do. And they should be instructed to improve their emotional intelligence, especially emotional regulation and impulsiveness restraint that are abilities to get negative emotion in control, to be composed, to be deliberate and to suppress their impulsiveness with patience.
This study is significant in that it provided parents and teachers with some information useful for the kindergarten adjustment of preschoolers.