There's More to Emotional Self-Regulation Than Meets the Eye

It was the first week of 1st grade, and Sophie was tired and distracted after a mostly sleepless night, but glad to be in the calm classroom where she felt safer. Since her father lost his job during the COVID-19 pandemic and was home all of the time now, the arguments and drinking in her house had escalated. Last night, Sophie retreated to her room feeling afraid and "frozen" as her father yelled at her mother. She still felt "on edge" and didn't want anyone to become angry.

Sophie went through the motions of everything her teacher, Mr. Murphy, asked her class to do, but she wasn't fully present. Meanwhile, Mr. Murphy was also having a challenging day, as two other students were incredibly active and disruptive. Mr. Murphy wasn't sure how to help them regulate their behavior and engage. He thought to himself, "I wonder what I can do differently for these two. How do I help all of my students be as regulated as Sophie?"

Self-regulation skills may have more of an effect on children's outcomes later in life than almost any other factor, including intelligence (e.g., Duckworth & Seligman, 2005). We self-regulate when we moderate our thoughts, emotions, and behavior in order to reach a short- or long-term goal or standard (Baumeister & Vohs, 2004).