Washington: Even kindergarten kids understand the importance of optimistic thinking, a new study has revealed.
And parents’ own feelings about positive thinking may play a role in whether their children understand how thoughts influence emotions.
In the study, researchers at Jacksonville University and the University of California, Davis looked at 90 mostly White children ages 5 to 10.
The children listened to six illustrated stories in which two characters feel the same emotion after experiencing something positive (getting a new puppy), negative (spilling milk), or ambiguous (meeting a new teacher).
Following each experience, one character has a separate optimistic thought, framing the event in a positive light, and the other has a separate pessimistic thought, putting the event in a negative light.
Researchers described the subsequent thoughts verbally, then asked the children to judge each character``s emotions and provide an explanation for those emotions. They were most interested in the degree to which children predicted different emotions for two characters in the same situation.
The researchers also had the children and their parents complete surveys to measure their individual levels of hope and optimism.
Children as young as 5 predicted that people would feel better after thinking positive thoughts than they would after thinking negative thoughts.
They showed the strongest insight about the influence of positive versus negative thoughts on emotions in ambiguous situations. And there was significant development in the children``s understanding about the emotion-feeling link as they grew older.
The study also found that children had the most difficulty understanding how positive thinking could boost someone``s spirits in situations that involved negative events—such as falling down and getting hurt.
In these coping situations, children``s levels of hope and optimism played a role in their ability to understand the power of positive thinking, but parents`` views on the topic played an even larger part.
“The strongest predictor of children``s knowledge about the benefits of positive thinking—besides age—was not the child``s own level of hope and optimism, but their parents’,” said Christi Bamford, assistant professor of psychology at Jacksonville University, who led the study when she was at the University of California, Davis.
The study has been published in the journal Child Development.
ANI
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Cookies Setting
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device and the processing of information obtained via those cookies (including about your preferences, device and online activity) by us and our commercial partners to enhance site navigation, personalise ads, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. More information can be found in our Cookies and Privacy Policy. You can amend your cookie settings to reject non-essential cookies by clicking Cookie Settings below.
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work or you may not be able to login.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advert as well as help measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we may not know when you have visited our site, and may not be able to monitor its performance.