Understanding of Own Emotions in Preschool Children and Possibilities of Its Development

The work deals with the understanding of own emotions in preschool children and the possibilities of its development. The literature review part presents the most well-known models of emotional intelligence and understanding of own emotions as its basic component. It also describes the developmental specifics of the preschool period with an emphasis on emotional development, and in particular the development of understanding of emotions. Factors that influence emotional development and ways in which emotional intelligence and specifically understanding of emotions can be developed are presented. The aim of the research part is to investigate, through a qualitative study design, how the expression of understanding of one's own emotions in preschool children changes after the intervention, in which the publication Emušáci: Ferda a jeho mouchy by Michaela Dostálová, Sylvia Jančiová and Helena Vlčková is used. The data are collected through individual structured interviews and processed by thematic analysis. The results describe how preschool children express their understanding of their own emotions and what changes occur in this respect after the implementation of the chosen form of intervention. Keywords Understanding emotions, preschool children, emotional intelligence, qualitative research, Emušáci