The development of preschoolers’ narratives on emotional experiences

Abstract

In this paper, a theoretical and empirical overview of the development of preschoolers’ narratives on their own emotional experiences is presented. More specifically, we present exploratory evidence that narratives on emotional experiences emerge in infancy and continue to increase in complexity, integration, and differentiation during the preschool years, and we demonstrate that adult-guided conversations about past events that include discussion and negotiation of emotional experiences lead preschoolers to construct narratives of their own emotional experiences. We argue that through narratives of emotional experiences constructed in social interaction, preschoolers create personal meaning of the events that contributes to their developing autobiographical memories and understanding of self.