Socio-emotional development and motivation in primary students

Abstract

Introduction: Socio-emotional development and motivation are essential components for comprehensive education, but their interaction in primary education requires further evidence. Objective: To determine the relationship between socio-emotional competencies and motivation to learn in primary students, analyzing differences by gender, age, and shift. Experimental Design: Observational, cross-sectional, descriptive-correlational study. Non-probabilistic sample of 328 students (aged 8-13) from a public institution in Bogotá, Colombia. Design and Conduct of Experiments: Application of validated instruments: Emotional Competence Inventory (adapted) and Harter’s Motivation Scale. Comparative analyses were performed using Hodges-Lehmann estimators and Spearman correlations. Main Outcomes Studied: Levels of emotional awareness, regulation, autonomy, social competence, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Results: A high socio-emotional profile was observed. Gender differences [95 % CI:-0.20 to 0.10] and shift differences [95 % CI:-0.05 to 0.25] showed confidence intervals for median differences that included zero. A decline in self-regulation with age was observed (Mean Age 8 years = 3.92 vs. 13 years = 3.57). The correlation between socio-emotional performance and motivation was null (Spearman’s rho ranged from-0.01 to-0.04). Conclusion: There is an independent association between socio-emotional development and school motivation. The emotional vulnerability observed in pre-adolescence suggests the need for affective support interventions that do not assume a direct transfer to academic motivation.