Emotional understanding

Unlike preschoolers, school-age children are more likely to explain emotion by referring to internal states such as happy or sad thoughts rather than external events. At approximately 8 years of age children start to realise that they can experience more than one emotion at the same time. The ability to appreciate mixed emotions helps children to realise that people’s facial expressions may not always reflect their true feelings.

Between the ages of 6 to 7 children’s ability to distinguish pride from happiness and surprise increases significantly. By 8 to 9 they can often understand that pride incorporates 2 sources of happiness; joy in accomplishment and joy that a significant person has recognised the accomplishment.

As children move closer to adolescence, their greater ability to understand the perspective of another enables them to respond in an empathetic way to people in immediate distress, but also to that person’s general life condition.