Interplay Between Socio-Emotional Learning, Cognition and Behavior in Children
A Special Issue of Behavioral Sciences (ISSN 2076-328X) belonging to the section "Social Psychology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 26 February 2027 | Viewed by 295
Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Educational experiences in early and middle childhood that incorporate socio-emotional learning represent important milestones in the development of children’s awareness of their own and others’ emotions, social behaviors, beliefs, intentions, and desires, as well as in fostering empathy and the regulation of emotion in social situations. Such socio-emotional competencies are associated with improved academic outcomes, social interactions, prosocial behavior, mental health, and employment.
This suggests an interplay between children’s experience of social and emotional curricula in school—whether through social and emotional learning (SEL), drama, or physical education and/or sports—and their development of socio-emotional cognition and behavior in relation to themselves and others.
Research evidence is emerging on the effectiveness of pedagogical approaches to social and technology-based educational interventions in classroom contexts underpinning children’s social skills—for instance, recognizing and managing emotions, mentalizing (Theory of Mind), and perspective taking—as well as developing prosocial behaviors and relationships with others through the development of such cognitive and behavioral processes.
This Special Issue invites original research articles on experimental studies and evaluations, as well as reviews, syntheses, and theoretical insights on effective and promising socio-emotional learning pedagogies and/or interventions that influence the development of emotion recognition and control, mentalizing, empathy, and social interaction and prosocial behavior in early- and middle-childhood education, when development is considered malleable.
Contributions drawing on cross-cultural and neurodiverse populations utilizing quantitative and qualitative approaches, as well as mixed methods and innovative interdisciplinary methodologies, are particularly welcomed. In this way, this Special Issue aims to provide cross-disciplinary perspectives that integrate insights from distinct fields of study in education, social psychology, social neuroscience, and cognitive and behavioral sciences, pertaining to socio-emotional learning and child development in early and middle childhood.
Your contributions will also inform education practices and the design of interventions grounded in research evidence.
Dr. Sveta Mayer
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- socio-emotional learning
- socio-emotional cognition
- social interaction
- prosocial behavior
- emotion control
- mentalizing
- theory of mind, empathy, pedagogy
- intervention
- technology-aided instruction
- childhood
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