Empirical research of the development of the emotional and volitional spheres of older preschool children

The aim of the article is an empirical study of psychological determinants and significant correlations between the development of older preschool children’s emotional and volitional spheres. The importance of preschool age in the development of the child’s psyche, feelings, emotions, self-control, empathy, and reflexive capacities was emphasized. Self-control was found to be low in a significant proportion of the respondents (n=46; 62.16%). The emotional reaction, which is the child’s empathic ability to empathize and sympathize, had high levels, according to the study (M1= 18.12; M2=12.00; M3=10.01). The empathetic capacity of a senior preschooler was in the active development phase and encourages the formation of empathic and reflexive abilities through play activities, particularly through such a form of leading mental activity as story-role play. The correlation matrix revealed that “Self-control” and “Emotional response” had a positive and relevant correlation (rs = .141; р < .05). It is stated that the presence of this correlation in the researched groups was a good marker of older preschool children’s emotional and volitional development.