Abstract
This longitudinal, observational study over two years in a kindergarten class of 3–4-year-olds examined how “kawaii”(cute or lovely in English) as a positive emotional word influences the regulation of their relationships in peer play. The results showed that children began to use “kawaii” in an early 3-year-old class period with the intervention of early childhood education teachers, followed by the use in a more relationship-regulating manner during the latter half of a 3-year-old class period, including in a situation to express their emotion unilaterally. In a 4-year-old class period, they began to use the word in a more explicit and relationally coordinated manner for a shared feeling of mutual attachment, valuation, and embodiment “kawaii” objects. These findings are important from the perspective of the development of emotional competence.
