Characteristics of emotional mood in first-graders with different levels of emotional intelligence as a factor of their psycho-social adaptation to primary school

Introduction. The article reviews the issues of psychosocial adjustment to primary school environment. The purpose of the research is to identify mood characteristics of first graders (aged between 7 and 8) with different levels of emotional intelligence (EI) as a factor of their psychological and social adaptation to primary school environment. Materials and Methods. The study follows L. S. Vygotsky’s theory of emotions (unity of emotions and intelligence), as well as ideas about the relationship between the basic psychophysiological color perception characteristics and emotions (E. F. Bazhina, L. A. Schwartz, E. T. Dorofeeva). Theoretical methods included analysis and generalization of scholarly literature on the research problem. The empirical study included identifying the features of emotional mood using the Luscher Color Test, (eight-color subtest), as well as studying emotional intelligence using the following methods: “Emotional pictogram”, “Complete the drawing: world of things - world of people - world of emotions”, and “Three wishes” Results. The results indicate that the level of emotional intelligence affects both emotional mood of primary schoolchildren (aged 7-8 years) and their psychosocial adjustment to primary school environment. It was found that the coefficient of the total deviation from the autogenic norm in children with a high level of EI corresponds to the normative emotional state, which indicates the effectiveness of adaptive mechanisms. On the other hand, in children with a low level of EI, increased emotional stress associated with primary school leads to increasing ergotropic tendencies in the self-regulation of the autonomic balance and, as a result, to the tension of adaptation mechanisms. Conclusions. The article concludes that children’s abilities to recognize evaluate and manage emotions in themselves and others correspond to their emotional state and the effectiveness of adaptation to primary school. It is emphasized that characteristics of primary schoolchildren’s emotional mood can be used as indicators showing the effectiveness of adaptation to school environment.