Our feelings and thoughts in childhood shape our personality because personal growth always occurs gradually and under the influence of many factors. The stronger the emotional stability of a person, the more opportunities they have for intellectual development because the positive atmosphere and emotional comfort create the conditions for successful learning. The formation of human knowledge depends not only on external but also internal factors. Our ability to deal with conflict and find a middle ground in socialization affects our ability to cooperate. Cooperation is a component of successful integration into society that helps to reach personal and professional goals. Thus, our intelligence depends on family, friends, teachers, our cooperation with them, and the choices made as a result.
Family
From an early age, my parents influenced the autonomy of my decisions. They showed me what was right and what was wrong; that is why I understood how society was organized and how to behave to achieve desired results. Miller-Slough and Dunsmore (2016) claim that in childhood, a person learns to regulate emotions and respond to them. The authors introduce the concept of “emotion socialization” and assert that through it, young people “learn to recognize, label, and manage their emotional displays, as well as social norms for expressiveness ” (Miller-Slough & Dunsmore, 2016, p. 289). This statement is consistent with my experience because looking at my parents, I defined the framework of behavior and how to express my feelings. In the future, it helped me in socialization and personal development because I understood that any path to the goal required unique approaches to people.
Friends and Teachers
Friends and teachers are the people who influence our worldview, values, aspirations, and personal goals. At school, I tried to adapt to my group to feel united with friends and not lag in learning. Miller-Slough and Dunsmore (2016) also describe this tendency for skillful emotion regulation stating that adolescences try to correspond to people’s expressiveness around them. The scholars assert that this behavior is “part of a self-evaluation process when individuating from their parents” (Miller-Slough & Dunsmore, 2016, p. 303). Besides, teachers defined my success in cognition and the ability to make friends, because they helped to resolve conflicts and explained the importance of successful group work. Thus, teachers and friends were an essential factor in shaping my emotional intelligence as they influenced my desire to show interest in learning.
Cooperation
As I have mentioned, proper social interaction influences our ability to cooperate with people. I remember that when I prepared assignments with friends and helped them, I became successful and learned more. During group work, I could look at the situation from different angles and deduce my behavior. In this way, my friends contributed to the development of my individuality. My parents and teachers were the role models for me, and thanks to them, I understood the importance of successful communication and timely expressing my emotions and thoughts.
Conclusion
To conclude, the level of emotion socialization in childhood and adolescence defined our future goals and ways to reach them. My parents, friends, and teachers showed me what steps to take to cooperate with people and get satisfaction from this process. In my experience, efficient collaboration inspires learning and achieving the goals. I believe that the experience of communicating with different people was one of the most valuable things in my life because it shaped me as a person and determined how I established my mental abilities. I can accomplish many things in self-development by having a good conversation, resolving conflicts, and working for a common goal.
References
Miller-Slough, R.L., & Dunsmore, J.C. (2016). Parent and friend emotion socialization in adolescence: Associations with psychological adjustment. Adolescent Research Review, 1, 287–305. Web.