Time Required
This practice takes less than five minutes. You can try it whenever the opportunity arises in daily life.
How to Do It
Emotion labeling is one way to help children understand other people’s feelings. It involves directly pointing out and naming feelings so your child can build their emotion vocabulary and recognize the contexts that give rise to various emotions. In this way, they can begin to understand that emotions are complex and nuanced.
For example, if you learn that your child’s neighborhood playmate is mourning the loss of their pet, help your child gain awareness by describing the possible emotions the friend might be feeling in these circumstances: depressed, lonely, grieving, confused, angry. For example, you might say, “I heard that his dog was sick and died. He might be feeling so sad and overwhelmed right now.”
Have conversations about what some feelings have in common, like how some can be “big” and uncomfortable, like feeling discouraged or afraid. Talk about how small kindnesses can make a difference in helping someone through intense emotions.
Why You Should Try It
Most parents want their children to develop strengths of the heart, like empathy and generosity. But these strengths can be abstract, and trying to teach kids about them in general can leave you wondering whether they are really “getting” it.
Empathy—sensing what others might be thinking or feeling—first requires an awareness of other people’s emotions, which is what emotion labeling provides.
Emotion labeling is a simple technique that can be done in everyday moments, like while grocery shopping or driving. Teaching children to see the world through another person’s perspective helps them to recognize and internalize the emotional states of others, and differentiate them from their own. Children's perspective widens and their capacity for responding to another child with empathy grows. With more empathy, kids may be more willing to help and share with others—one type of empathic response—which can foster greater social competence and positive relationships.
Why It Works
When adults label the emotions of others, children are able to make sense of internal experiences that people may be having that are not obvious on the surface. Empathy appears to be a natural outgrowth of that understanding, particularly when kids realize that others are sad. And when children feel empathy, they may spontaneously share and be generous, rather than needing to be prompted.
Emotion labeling appears to be a simple, effective tool to raise children's social awareness of the emotional states of others and promote social connectedness.
Evidence That It Works
Dickerson, K. L., & Quas, J. A. (2021). Emotional awareness, empathy, and generosity in high-risk youths. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 208, 1–18.
Children ages 6–17, including children who were maltreated and in foster care as well as children living with their parents, were offered candy. They were told they could select as many candies as they wanted, but that the next child would only get to pick from the candy remaining.
The emotion labeling group was told, ‘‘I heard that his/her dog ran away and his/her grandma is sick. He/she is so sad!”—while the control group was not given any information about the next child. Then, children privately decided whether to share by leaving candy in a closed box. Afterward, the researchers measured the children’s empathy by asking them how the other child felt with a question like, “What was going on with him/her?” They also asked children how good or bad they felt for the other child.
The children tended to show more empathy and, in turn, share more candy with the next child when the researchers labeled the next child’s emotion.
Sources
Kelli L. Dickerson, University of California, Irvine
Parents can be role models for their children's empathy. How well do you feel and understand what others are feeling? Take our Empathy quiz to find out.
Comments
and Reviews
Keyshia cole
I'm thrilled to share my positive experience with Data Forensics Cyber Services, who successfully helped me recover my digital currency from scammers. If you're a victim of cryptocurrency scams, I highly recommend reaching out to Data Forensics Recovery Cyber Services. Their expertise and assistance can be invaluable in recovering your lost assets. Let's spread awareness about these scams and support those affected. Kudos to Data Forensics Recovery Cyber Services for their exceptional work!" you can reach them via Email:DataForensicscyberservices@protonmail.com WhatsApp:+1(315)612-1269 Website:https://www.data-forensics.de/ Please share this information ,lets put a stop to scammers. God bless you as you do so.
UnityDr64310
Honestly, this Love spell caster made me feel a lot better. My marriage was restored and my husband came back to me he apologized for all the wrongs he did and promise never to do it again. A big thanks to this wonderful psychic for bringing my husband back to me.. I never really believed in magic spells or anything spiritual but a trusted friend opened my eyes to the truth about life. My marriage was heading to divorce a few months ago. I was so confused and devastated with no clue or help on how to prevent it, till I was introduced to Dr. Excellent that did a love spell and broke every spiritual distraction from my marriage. A day later my husband started showing me love and care even better than it used to be, he’s ready to talk things through and find ways for us to stay happy. It’s such a miracle that my marriage can be saved so quickly without stress. You can also contact him for help. Here his contact. Call/WhatsApp him at: +2348084273514 "Or email him at: Excellentspellcaster@gmail.com , His website:https://drexcellentspellcaster.godaddysites.com
Juliana Costa
Lourdes
As a person who works very closely with kids, and would love to learn new ways to influence children in the best way, speaking on emotions has always been a goal. Loved how as adults introducing new appropriate emotional terminology helps increase the way children express themselves.
Stacy Lynn Sager
{name}
The Greater Good Toolkit
Made in collaboration with Holstee, this tookit includes 30 science-based practices for a meaningful life.
The Greater Good Toolkit
Made in collaboration with Holstee, this tookit includes 30 science-based practices for a meaningful life.