Cognitive component in the structure of emotional intelligence of younger school students

Abstract

The article is devoted to the results of research into the problem of emotional intelligence of a junior high school student, in particular, the development of one of its structural components –
cognitive. The relevance of the study of emotional intelligence as one of the leading personality formations is well-founded. The importance of this phenomenon in personality development at different age stages is emphasized, the essence of the concept of «emotional intelligence» and its interpretation by scientists who introduced it into the psychological vocabulary are revealed. In their opinion, emotional intelligence is an integrative entity, which is the ability of a person to realize and control his own emotions and feelings, as well as those of other people in the process of interpersonal interaction. According to the researchers of this problem, this ability contributes to the emotional and intellectual growth of the individual. The opposite views of scientists on the possibility of developing emotional intelligence in general and at the stage of primary school age in particular are highlighted. The method of experimental research of the cognitive component of a junior high school student and indicators of its development are described: recognition of emotions, identification of emotions, understanding of the reason that caused a certain emotion. The results of an experimental study of the development of the cognitive component of emotional
intelligence in children of primary school age are presented. The cognitive component of emotional intelligence is considered as a person’s ability to determine their emotions based on their physical state, experiences and thoughts, the ability to determine the emotions of other people through their facial expressions, movements, and verbal behavior.
The analysis of the obtained results of the study made it possible to distinguish three levels of the developed cognitive component of the emotional intelligence of younger schoolchildren: high,
medium, low, which are given a psychological characteristic. It was established that it is still difficult for children of this age to understand their own and other people’s emotions, and indicators of the development of the cognitive component mostly have a low level of development in students of the first and second grades. Certain positive dynamics took place in third-grade students, who were found to have a predominance of the average level of development of the cognitive component of emotional intelligence. The prospect of further research into the problem of the development of the emotional intelligence of a junior high school student is named.