Shame and guilt are moral emotions that arise when people evaluate their behaviour as morally right or wrong. These emotions are critical for the display of prosocial behaviours, or else, social...Show moreShame and guilt are moral emotions that arise when people evaluate their behaviour as morally right or wrong. These emotions are critical for the display of prosocial behaviours, or else, social competence. However, the relation between moral emotions and social competence in preschool children has not been studied extensively in typically hearing (TH) populations, let alone in deaf or hard-of-hearing (DHH) children. The present study investigated whether TH and DHH preschoolers differ in their levels of shame, guilt, and social competence. Furthermore, the association between moral emotions and social competence, for these two groups, was examined. This study is a part of a larger longitudinal cross-cultural project, which aims at understanding the (early) social-emotional developments of children with hearing loss and autism in China and the Netherlands, while also exploring cultural and societal factors. A total of 282 TH and DHH Chinese preschoolers, between the ages of 1.5-6.5 years old, participated in the study. The data were collected via parent-report questionnaires, where parents reported online or on paper the levels of the studied variables in their children. The results showed that DHH preschoolers expressed less shame and guilt, while also displaying lower levels of social competence than the TH group. For both groups, no relation was found between shame and social competence, while guilt was found to be positively related with social competence. Notably, this positive relation was stronger in DHH than in TH preschoolers, revealing the potentially crucial role of guilt for the promotion of social competence in DHH children. This study serves as a preliminary step toward understanding the relations between moral emotions and social competence for TH and DHH preschoolers, while also providing recommendations for future research.Show less
Social competence is a key part in the development of children. Social skills help children to follow directions, manage emotions, and improve interpersonal relationships. Therefore, these skills...Show moreSocial competence is a key part in the development of children. Social skills help children to follow directions, manage emotions, and improve interpersonal relationships. Therefore, these skills are important for happiness and welfare in adulthood. Several factors influence social development. Previous studies suggest that parental involvement has positive influence on children’s social competence. Science also stated how parents from lower SES-background are less available to their children. The aim of the current study was to test whether there is a relationship between SES, parental involvement and social competence. Furthermore, the current study tested if the relationship between SES and children’s social competence was mediated by parental involvement. Data was used from the L-CID project, a larger twin study from Leiden University. The current study used data from 120 families. By random sampling, from each twin one child was selected for participation. The mean age of the children was 10.94 years old. Results showed a significant positive association between SES and parental involvement. No mediation effect was found. Also, there was no relationship found between SES and social competence, or parental involvement and social competence. The contradicting findings are possibly due to the fact that attachment style, age of children, parental emotional distress, and the amount of time children spend in other environments was not taken into account. However, results did indicate the higher the SES, the more time parents have to support their children. Therefore, for society is remains important to be aware of a child’s background, because this has influence on parent’s involvement at home.Show less
Although it is known that men with Klinefelter syndrome have cognitive and behavioral problems, knowledge about psychological treatments is limited. This study describes the effect of a...Show moreAlthough it is known that men with Klinefelter syndrome have cognitive and behavioral problems, knowledge about psychological treatments is limited. This study describes the effect of a Selfmanagement training on social competence, social interaction and self-understanding. Scores of 23 Klinefelter men on the Social Skills Rating System, the Social Behavior Scale and the Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire were compared to 41 control men. Both groups were compared on the pretest. The Klinefelter group has had a Selfmanagement training and a posttest after six months. Independent t-test and repeated measures were computed. The Klinefelter group showed significantly more impairments in social competence, social interactions and self-understanding than the control group on the pretest. No significant improvements on social competence, social interaction and self-understanding were found on the posttest for the Klinefelter men, so we looked at the means of the subtest. The means of the repeated measures indicate an improvement in averages after the training for social competence, frequency of social interactions and the emotion dimension of self-understanding. It turned out that the average excitement during social interaction has decreased considerable on the intervention period. It seems that the Selfmanagement training has a positive effect on the Klinefelter men. In the future research with a larger number of Klinefelter men is recommended as well as research on the effects at the long term. Because this is a first psychological training for men with Klinefelter, the small improvement found in the mean is already valuable and an open door for further research.Show less
