Emotional inteligence
242/661emotion, and who unwittingly send messages that createuneasiness.As Stephen Nowicki, an Emory University psychologistwho studies children's nonverbal abilities, put it,"Children who can't read or express emotions well constantlyfeel frustrated. In essence, they don't understandwhat's going on. This kind of communication is a constantsubtext of everything you do; you can't stop showingyour facial expression or posture, or hide your toneof voice. If you make mistakes in what emotional messagesyou send, you constantly experience that peoplereact to you in funny ways—you get rebuffed and don'tknow why. If you're thinking you're acting happy but actuallyseem too hyper or angry, you find other kids gettingangry at you in turn, and you don't realize why.Such kids end up feeling no sense of control over howother people treat them, that their actions have no impacton what happens to them. It leaves them feelingpowerless, depressed, and apathetic."Apart from becoming social isolates, such childrenalso suffer academically. The classroom, of course, is asmuch a social situation as an academic one; the sociallyawkward child is as likely to misread and misrespond toa teacher as to another child. The resulting anxiety andbewilderment can themselves interfere with their abilityto learn effectively. Indeed, as tests of children's
243/661nonverbal sensitivity have shown, those who misreademotional cues tend to do poorly in school compared totheir academic potential as reflected in IQ tests. 11"WE HATE YOU": AT THE THRESHOLDSocial ineptitude is perhaps most painful and explicitwhen it comes to one of the more perilous moments inthe life of a young child: being on the edge of a group atplay you want to join. It is a moment of peril, one whenbeing liked or hated, belonging or not, is made all toopublic. For that reason that crucial moment has beenthe subject of intense scrutiny by students of child development,revealing a stark contrast in approachstrategies used by popular children and by social outcasts.The findings highlight just how crucial it is for socialcompetence to notice, interpret, and respond toemotional and interpersonal cues. While it is poignantto see a child hover on the edge of others at play, wantingto join in but being left out, it is a universal predicament.Even the most popular children are sometimes rejected—astudy of second and third graders found that26 percent of the time the most well liked children wererebuffed when they tried to enter a group already atplay.Young children are brutally candid about the emotionaljudgment implicit in such rejections. Witness the
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emotion, and who unwittingly send messages that create
uneasiness.
As Stephen Nowicki, an Emory University psychologist
who studies children's nonverbal abilities, put it,
"Children who can't read or express emotions well constantly
feel frustrated. In essence, they don't understand
what's going on. This kind of communication is a constant
subtext of everything you do; you can't stop showing
your facial expression or posture, or hide your tone
of voice. If you make mistakes in what emotional messages
you send, you constantly experience that people
react to you in funny ways—you get rebuffed and don't
know why. If you're thinking you're acting happy but actually
seem too hyper or angry, you find other kids getting
angry at you in turn, and you don't realize why.
Such kids end up feeling no sense of control over how
other people treat them, that their actions have no impact
on what happens to them. It leaves them feeling
powerless, depressed, and apathetic."
Apart from becoming social isolates, such children
also suffer academically. The classroom, of course, is as
much a social situation as an academic one; the socially
awkward child is as likely to misread and misrespond to
a teacher as to another child. The resulting anxiety and
bewilderment can themselves interfere with their ability
to learn effectively. Indeed, as tests of children's