WHEN I HAVE A BAD DREAM, MOMMY HOLDS ME - PRESCHOOLERS CONCEPTIONS OFEMOTIONS, PARENTAL SOCIALIZATION, AND EMOTIONAL COMPETENCE

Described preschoolers' conceptions of the consequences of their own e motions within the family demonstrated the linkage between this aspect of social cognition and emotional competence with peers, and examined contributions of parental emotion to both child variables. A total of 77 4- and 5-year-olds enacted dollhouse vignettes depicting consequen ces of their emotions. Parents completed questionnaires on negative em otion and sharing of positive affect, and teachers rated children's em otional competence with peers. Children attributed plausible parental reactions to their own emotions; affective sharing/distress relief con ceptions of parents' reactions were most strongly associated with emot ional competence in the preschool classroom. Socialisation of emotion indices exerted both direct and indirect influences on emotional compe tence, and conceptions of parents' positive reactions also exerted a d irect effect, as expected.