EJIHPE | Free Full-Text | Preschool Teachers’ Cognitions, Emotions, and Tolerance toward Children’s Hypothetical Social Behaviors in the Classroom
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In this study, we describe the cognitions, emotions, and tolerance of Portuguese preschool teachers toward children’s social behaviors, considering the effects of children’s sex. We also explore the direct and indirect (via teachers’ emotions) associations between teachers’ cognitions and tolerance, considering the effects of children’s sex.
4.1. Preschool Teachers’ Cognitions, Emotions, and Tolerance toward Children’s Social Behaviors, Considering Children’s Sex
In line with prior research [1,5,6,8,9,20], our findings partially support our first hypothesis (H1), showing that teachers displayed more negative views toward the controllability and peer consequences of children’s physically and relationally aggressive behaviors. These negative views coexisted with increased anger and lower tolerance toward physically and relationally aggressive behaviors compared with socially withdrawn behaviors. These findings suggest that teachers are conscious of the disruptive effects of children’s aggressive behaviors on classroom functioning and peer interactions [30] and of their underlying motivations to hurt or harm others [10], which have been described in the literature. Nevertheless, our findings diverge from prior research showing that teachers did not distinguish physical aggression from relational aggression [1,11,12,20]. Relational aggression typically assumes a more direct and overt form (e.g., harmful verbal communication) during early childhood than during middle childhood [31]. This may explain the similar concerns, emotions, and behavioral responses reported by preschool teachers regarding children’s physical and relational aggression. In accordance with the theoretical framework of [2], cultural factors may have influenced the way that teachers think about relational aggression [22]. In fact, it is possible that harmful verbal communication collides with the values of good manners, respect for others, and tolerance that continue to play a role in child-rearing in Portugal [21]. However, cross-cultural studies are needed to test this hypothesis.
The obtained results partially support our second hypothesis (H2). Preschool teachers hold mostly positive views of rough play and appear to be aware of its playful nature (i.e., elicited by circumstances) and adaptive functions in the social domain, which have been documented in the literature [13]. Similar to their Canadian counterparts [1], our participants considered that rough play would be associated with more positive peer and academic outcomes, lower levels of anger and worry, and greater tolerance than aggressive behaviors. Contrary to prior research [1], rough play was considered as tolerable as socially withdrawn behaviors and more tolerable than exuberant behaviors. These findings seem to support the idea that preschool teachers are more focused on the potentialities of rough play in the social domain than on their potential to escalate to aggressive behaviors, due to the young age of the children [13]. In accordance with the bioecological developmental framework [2], time may also influence how caregivers think, feel, and react to children’s social behaviors. In the present study, teachers’ perspectives were assessed during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. Although children experienced fewer prophylactic restrictions during this stage of the pandemic crisis [32], research found that teachers observed a decline in communication and social skills among older children (e.g., [33]). Within this context, it is possible that preschool teachers were more tolerant toward playful interactions that can have benefits for peer interactions.
Preschool teachers in our sample appear to be conscious of the temperamental roots and unintentional nature of exuberance that have been described in the literature [9]. In line with prior research [1,25,26,27,28] and with our second hypothesis (H2), participants in our sample hold mixed perspectives toward exuberant behaviors. Preschool teachers considered that exuberant behaviors would be less concerning and more tolerable than aggressive behaviors. However, participants would be more likely to intervene to interrupt them than socially withdrawn behaviors. Due to their high levels of extroversion and impulsivity [15], exuberant children may demand more attention from teachers to regulate the potential disruptive effects of their verbal interruptions (e.g., talking out of turn) in the classroom [1,6]. Nonetheless, preschool teachers were less concerned and anticipated more positive peer and academic outcomes for exuberant children compared with shy children. Convergent with prior research, we found that exuberance may be associated with peer acceptance [34] and teachers’ ratings of better academic performance, due to increased behavioral engagement in the classroom [1,6].
Our findings partially support our third hypothesis (H3). Similar to their Canadian and Chinese counterparts [1,5,20], preschool teachers in our sample were able to identify the distinct motivational and psychological substrates underlying shy and unsociable behaviors [35]. In line with the developmental literature, participants acknowledged that the reduced desire for social engagement associated with unsociability [19] appears to reflect a deliberate and intrinsic non-fearful preference for playing alone [36] and were less concerned with this type of social behavior compared with shyness. Contrary to shy children, the literature establishes that unsociable children do not avoid social interaction when asked to participate by teachers and peers [19]. Due to their reduced participation in the classroom, teachers may evaluate the academic outcomes of shy children negatively [37]. In contrast, unsociable children may be more prone to engage in classroom activities when asked to [19] and their solitary behaviors may be interpreted by teachers as being on task [38].
Notwithstanding these similarities, preschool teachers in our sample did not distinguish between shyness and unsociability in terms of anticipated negative peer outcomes. These findings diverge from the perspectives of Chinese and Canadian teachers [1,6,20] and from prior research, suggesting that unsociability is relatively benign during early childhood [39]. As previously stated, our findings need to be interpreted considering macro-time factors [2]. Given the timing of the data collection, it is possible that preschool teachers were more conscious of the potentially negative peer consequences of socially withdrawn behaviors in the classroom during early childhood, independent of their underlying motivational substrates.
Contrary to our hypothesis (H4), our findings evidenced only subtle sex differences in teachers’ tolerance toward unsociable behaviors. More specifically, preschool teachers in our sample considered that unsociable behaviors were less tolerable among girls than among boys. Inverse sex differences were found for unsociability in a sample of elementary school teachers [5]. These findings are consistent with the greater prosocial orientation of girls during peer interactions [40]. It is plausible that teachers perceive reduced desire to engage in peer interactions, which is related to unsociable behavior [19], as deviant from the normative expectations for girls. This may be particularly salient in Portuguese society, in which collectivist values related to good manners and respect for others continue to be perceived as desirable qualities for children [21].
No significant sex differences were found in teachers’ cognitions, emotions, and tolerance toward the remaining social behaviors. The relatively few sex differences converge with the idea that teachers’ training and experience may counteract sex stereotypes relating to children’s social behaviors [1,5,6]. Nevertheless, these findings need to be interpreted with caution, since teachers were randomly assigned vignettes depicting either boys or girls in the present study.
4.2. Direct and Indirect Associations (via Anger) between Preschool Teachers’ Cognitions and Tolerance toward Children’s Social Behaviors
Contrary to our hypothesis (H5), our findings did not identify direct and indirect associations (via anger) between teachers’ causal attributions (i.e., increased intentionality) and lower tolerance toward all the social behaviors of the children. In contrast, our findings support extant theory that acknowledges the relevance of the affective component of teachers’ beliefs [3,4] for the enactment of teachers’ behavioral responses. In fact, teachers’ anger emerged as the only predictor of lower tolerance toward physical aggression and exuberance. The harmful actions of physically aggressive children and the verbal interruptions of exuberant children have an immediate disruptive impact in the classroom for peers and teachers [1,6] that is more likely to elicit emotions of anger [25,26]. Given the instant reaction evoked by basic primary emotions [41], teachers who experience heightened levels of anger in response to such behaviors are more prone to intervene to interrupt them.
Our findings also diverge from our hypotheses, because increased anger mediated the negative associations between teachers’ future-oriented cognitions (i.e., anticipated negative peer costs) and tolerance toward rough play. Research has found that rough play may be misinterpreted by teachers as aggression [14], which has been found to have negative consequences for peer interactions [30]. This kind of negative view may evoke instant emotional reactions, like anger [1], and, in turn, increase teachers’ proneness to intervene to stop rough play in the classroom.
4.3. Direct and Indirect Associations (via Worry) between Preschool Teachers’ Cognitions and Tolerance toward Children’s Social Behaviors
Our findings partially support our sixth hypothesis (H6). Direct positive associations between future-oriented cognitions (i.e., anticipated costs) and tolerance were limited to physical aggression. These findings converge with the idea that the direct relationship between beliefs and practices is not always consistent within the broader multi-leveled context in which teachers interact with preschoolers [2,4]. Children’s overt deliberate actions to hurt or harm others using physical force [10] have been found to be particularly disruptive for peer interactions [30] and may lead to children’s active isolation by peers [17]. Consistent with this idea, research conducted in different countries has consistently found that preschoolers are less prone to display affiliative preferences toward physically aggressive peers compared with socially withdrawn peers (e.g., [42,43,44]). Teachers have also appeared to be conscious of the disruptive nature of physically aggressive behaviors for peer interactions compared with children’s other social behaviors [1,6,20]. Consequently, teachers’ greater awareness concerning the disruptive nature of physically aggressive behaviors for peer interactions may be sufficient to lower their tolerance toward them.
Consistent with our hypothesis (H6), teachers’ future-oriented cognitions (i.e., anticipated costs) appear to exert an indirect influence on teachers’ tolerance, via increased levels of worry, for physical aggression and unsociability. Research has shown that teachers anticipate the most negative future consequences as a result of physical aggression (e.g., [1,5,20]). Notwithstanding their non-fearful preference for solitude [17], unsociable children are able to positively engage with peers or teachers in the classroom [19]. Consequently, teachers may be more likely to think about the long-term consequences of unsociability [1] for children’s developmental outcomes. Teachers who are more likely to think about the future peer and academic experiences of physically aggressive and unsociable children may be more prone to experience complex secondary emotions, like worry [1] and, consequently, to intervene to modify such behaviors.
For shyness, future-oriented cognitions were not directly and indirectly associated (via teachers’ worry) with tolerance. Contrary to the expectation, teachers’ attributions of lower intentionality were associated with lower tolerance, through increased levels of worry. These findings support the idea that socially withdrawn behaviors may be associated with increased worry [1], although not while teachers think about children’s future negative outcomes. Instead, teachers’ attributions regarding the unintentional nature of children’s shy behaviors were significantly associated with teachers’ worry. It is possible that teachers who perceive shy behaviors as less intentional are more conscious of the motivational substrates underlying shyness that have been described in the literature [35], recognizing that shyness reflects conflicting desires for social approach and avoidance, due to social anxiety [17]. Teachers’ concerns about the avoidance–approach conflict underlying shy behaviors [17] may, in turn, reduce their tolerance toward them. In contrast with shy behaviors, teachers’ attributions of external causality were associated with lower tolerance toward unsociable behaviors, through increased levels of worry. It is possible that teachers who perceive unsociable behaviors as more due to situational circumstances are less conscious that these behaviors reflect a preference for solitude [17] and may misinterpret them as shyness, so they are more worried and prone to intervene to modify them.
For relational aggression, teachers’ worry was the only predictor of tolerance, supporting the role of the affective component of teachers’ beliefs in the enactment of teachers’ behaviors [4]. In the short term, relational aggression does not encompass an immediate risk of children’s physical injury and may, thus, be less disruptive to classroom functioning than physical aggression [1]. This type of social behavior may elicit increased future-oriented secondary emotions [44], such as worry. Teachers who experience increased worry are more likely to intervene to interrupt relational aggression in the classroom.
4.4. Limitations and Future Directions
This study has limitations. The sample was recruited using a convenience sampling method, and post hoc power analyses showed that medium to large but not small effects could be detected. The measure that was used has been shown to be reliable and valid in different cultures and allowed us to describe teachers’ perspectives of children’s challenging social behaviors. However, this measure only assessed teachers’ perspectives, using hypothetical scenarios and a narrow number of items. It is possible that teachers’ cognitions, emotions, and behaviors are different in real preschool settings. Due to its cross-sectional design, this study did not allow us to establish the direction of the relationships between the variables. The timing of data collection may have also impacted teachers’ perspectives of children’s social behaviors in the preschool classroom.
In future studies, researchers need to combine hypothetical vignette methods with qualitative interviews of teachers or preschool observations and explore both maladaptive and adaptive social behaviors of children over time in different cultures. Differences in teachers’ cognitions, negative emotions, and behavioral responses, depending on children’s sex, need to be explored in more depth, namely regarding socially withdrawn (i.e., unsociable and shy) behaviors. In future studies, the period of the school year in which teachers’ cognitions, emotions, and tolerance are collected also needs to be accounted for, because it can influence the cognitive, affective, and behavioral responses of both teachers and children. Potential bidirectional associations between teachers’ cognitions and tolerance need to be examined. The moderating role of teachers’ individual (e.g., self-efficacy or other ability-related beliefs, personality traits, experience) and contextual (e.g., child-to-teacher ratio, classroom climate) factors in the direct and indirect associations (via a wider range of teachers’ emotions) between teachers’ cognitions and tolerance needs to be examined.
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