Magister Commercii (Industrial Psychology) - MCom(IPS) / As organisations struggle to meet the demands placed on them by contextual challenges, they place more emphasis on relationships for effective organisational functioning. Trust is a critical component of workplace relationships and has been linked to numerous beneficial organisational outcomes. However, as trust is difficult for organisations to influence directly, Perceived Organisational Support may encompass a set of actions organisations can take that directly create workplace trust. The aim of this study was to elucidate the relationship between workplace trust and Perceived Organisational Support. Workplace trust was examined as a three-dimensional model, with the trust referent (Organisation, Immediate Manager, Co-Workers) forming each dimension. Perceived Organisational Support was examined as a two-dimensional model, based on performance-reward expectancies (“Contribution”) or socio-emotional need fulfilment (“Well-being”). A multi-method survey methodology yielded n = 212 participants in a South African organisation. The consolidated questionnaire sought biographical information from the sample as well as their responses to the Workplace Trust Survey and the Survey of Perceived Organisational Support. The reliability coefficients of the Workplace Trust Survey, Survey of Perceived Organisational Support and each of the dimensions were established as sufficient. Next, Confirmatory Factor Analysis confirmed that a three-dimensional factor structure for workplace trust and a two-dimensional factor structure for Perceived Organisational Support can and should be used in a South African sample. Correlation analysis indicated a significant, positive relationship between each dimension of workplace trust and both of the dimensions of Perceived Organisational Support. Regression analysis confirmed that Perceived Organisational Support contributes to a significant proportion of the variance in workplace trust. However, there was one exception: The Contribution dimension of Perceived Organisational Support did not contribute significantly to Trust in Co-workers. This research, based on a South African sample, confirms much of the previous international research into the relationship between Perceived Organisational Support and workplace trust. In addition, it makes two new contributions to the field. First, it found that Perceived Organisational Support can and should be considered a two-dimensional construct in a South African sample. This is in contrast with international studies that indicate a uni-dimensional construct for Perceived Organisational Support. Second, by using the two-dimensional Perceived Organisational Support construct, it found that only the Well-being, and not the Contribution, dimension of Perceived Organisational Support had a significant, positive impact on workplace trust. Recommendations are made for future research, based on limitations of the current study as well as on the research results.

Abstract This dissertation focuses on young children’s emotion and behaviour regulation in educational settings. The purpose is to explore its emergence in socio-emotionally challenging academic and social activities in order to understand the contributing individual and interactional factors. The dissertation consists of three studies conducted in two contexts, a classroom and an open day-care. The results are reported in three empirical articles. Study I explored children’s strategic activities and success in regulating emotions in challenging classroom situations. Studies II and III were performed in a day-care context. Study II focused on teachers’ perspectives and investigated their use of co-regulation strategies in challenging situations and their awareness of their strategy use. Finally, Study III investigated children’s use of emotion and behaviour regulation strategies in these same situations and the composition of children’s strategic activities in interaction with teachers and peers. Data were collected using video observations, video-stimulated recall interviews and the questionnaire assessing children’s social competence. The results indicate that the children use various emotion and behaviour regulation strategies in socio-emotionally challenging situations. In the day-care context, their strategies were mostly focused on regulating the environment, whereas in the classroom context, their strategies, especially among the more socially skilled children, were focused on regulating themselves. As well, the teachers’ co-regulation strategies were focused more on children’s activities than their emotions. Moreover, the study indicates that children’s regulatory interactions are affected not only by their different skill levels but also by peer interactions and teachers’ involvement. The study results contribute to the understanding of young children’s processes and abilities to regulate emotions in everyday challenges in educational settings and, thus, increase awareness of how teachers can support these regulatory processes. / Tiivistelmä Tässä väitöstutkimuksessa tutkitaan päiväkoti- ja peruskouluikäisten lasten tunteiden ja käyttäytymisen säätelyä koulussa ja avoimessa päiväkodissa. Tavoitteena on selvittää erityisesti, miten lasten tunteiden ja käyttäytymisen säätely ilmenee oppimiseen tai sosiaalisiin tilanteisiin liittyvissä sosio-emotionaalisissa haasteissa ja ymmärtää lasten tunteiden ja käyttäytymisen säätelyyn vaikuttavia yksilöllisiä ja vuorovaikutuksellisia tekijöitä. Tutkimus toteutettiin kahdessa kontekstissa: peruskoulussa ja avoimessa päiväkodissa. Se koostuu kolmesta empiirisestä osatutkimuksesta, joiden tulokset on raportoitu kolmessa artikkelissa. Osatutkimuksessa I selvitettiin millaisia sosio-emotionaalisia haasteita lapset kokivat peruskoulun luokkahuonetilanteissa ja miten he käyttivät tunnesäätelystrategioita näissä tilanteissa. Osatutkimus II tutki, miten opettajat säätelivät lasten tunteita ja käyttäytymistä haasteellisissa tilanteissa avoimessa päiväkodissa ja miten tietoisia he olivat käyttämistään strategioista. Osatutkimus III selvitti puolestaan, millaisia säätelystrategioita lapset käyttivät samoissa sosio-emotionaalisesti haastavissa tilanteissa. Osatutkimus selvitti myös, miten lasten käyttämät strategiat olivat yhteydessä vuorovaikutukseen opettajan ja ikätoverien kanssa. Tutkimuksen aineistona käytettiin video-taltiointeja autenttisista koulu- ja päiväkotitilanteista, opettajille järjestettyjä videostimuloituja haastatteluja ja lasten sosiaalista kompetenssia arvioivaa kyselyä. Tutkimustulokset osoittavat, että lapset käyttävät monenlaisia tunne- ja käyttäytymisen säätelystrategioita haasteellisissa tilanteissa. Päiväkoti-ikäisten lasten säätelystrategiat pyrkivät enimmäkseen vaikuttamaan muiden toimintaan, kun taas kouluikäiset, erityisesti sosiaalisesti taitavat lapset, säätelevät haasteellisissa tilanteissa enemmän itseään kuin ympäristöä. Tulosten mukaan opettajat kohdistavat säätelystrategiansa haasteellisissa tilanteissa enemmän lasten toimintaan kuin heidän tunteisiinsa. Kaiken kaikkiaan tulokset osoittavat, että lasten säätelystrategioihin vaikuttavat sekä heidän omat taitonsa että opettajien aktiivinen puuttuminen ja vuorovaikutus ikätoverien kanssa. Tutkimus korostaa opettajan tuen merkitystä lasten tunteiden säätelyprosesseissa lasten koulun ja varhaiskasvatuksen arjessa.

Studien syftar till att få större förståelse av musiklärares perspektiv på betygsättning av elevers socioemotionella kompetenser och sociala omständigheter. Studien lyfter även musiklärares strategier för att uppnå en betygsättning som inte väger in elevers socioemotionella kompetenser. Tidigare forskning visar att det förekommer att lärare väger in elevers socioemotionella kompetens och sociala omständigheter i betyget och på vilka grunder det kan ske. Genom kvalitativa intervjuer av tre verksamma musiklärare, två högstadielärare och en gymnasielärare, lyfts deras perspektiv och erfarenheter av betygssättning fram. Resultatet visar, precis som tidigare forskning, att musiklärare ibland väger in elevers socioemotionella kompetens och sociala omständigheter i betygsättningen. I resultatet identifieras också strategier för att möjliggöra en betygsättning som väger in elevers ämneskunskaper. Exempel på strategier kan vara lärares resonerande om elevers ämneskunskaper sinsemellan och vikten av ett professionellt förhållningssätt från lärarens sida vid betygsättning. I diskussionen används ett relationellt perspektiv med hjälp av begreppet relationskompetens. Studien är av intresse för lärarstudenter och yrkeresverksamma lärare som vill ha större förståelse av betygsättning och vilka svårigheter som kan förekomma.

La gestion des situations difficiles par les enseignants en classe est l'un des grands défis de l'enseignement. Les situations de conflit peuvent mobiliser des émotions fortes chez eux. Par conséquent, ils sont susceptibles de développer des maladies physiques ou mentales (Carlotto, 2010; Lineback, McCarthy et Reiser, 2015). Certains en viennent à abandonner la profession. En raison du manque d’expérience des enseignants débutants, ils sont plus facilement sujets à l’épuisement professionnel, car leurs premières années d’expériences sont marquées par une phase de choc de la réalité, d’insécurité et de surcharges émotionnelles (Huberman, 1989; Pelletier, 2015). Certains chercheurs ont étudié cette situation en quête de solutions pour aider les enseignants à gérer leurs émotions : les compétences socioémotionnelles (Collaborative for academic social and emotional learning, 2003; Yoder, 2014). Néanmoins, la majorité de ces recherches concernent les enseignants en salle de classe (Corcoran et Tormey, 2012; Zinsser, Deham, Curby et Shewark, 2015) et très peu présentent la situation des enseignants d'éducation physique débutants. Cette étude s’est penchée sur les émotions et les compétences socioémotionnelles d’un enseignant d’éducation physique débutant lors de la gestion de classe où il était interpellé par une situation difficile. Dans le cadre de notre recherche, nous avons choisi l'étude de cas. Cette recherche vise à cerner et décrire les émotions et identifier et comprendre les compétences socioémotionnelles mobilisées par le participant. Notre recherche est donc basée sur le paradigme interprétatif, car elle nous incite à comprendre la perspective du participant (Godoy, 1995). Nous avons constaté qu’il est possible d’acquérir ces compétences, malgré le manque de connaissances théoriques de l’enseignant à ce sujet. En fait, le participant a mobilisé toutes les cinq compétences socioémotionnelles à l’aide de cinq différentes ressources, qui sont : des expériences précédentes, des disciplines universitaires, des formations continues, des échanges avec les collègues de profession et, surtout de la psychothérapie personnelle. / The management of difficult situations by teachers in the classroom is one of the greatest challenges in teaching. Conflict situations can mobilize strong emotions for teachers. As a result, they are likely to develop physical or mental illnesses (Carlotto, 2010; Lineback, McCarthy and Reiser, 2015). Some of them may eventually leave the profession. Due to the lack of experience of beginning teachers, they are more easily subject to professional burnout, as their first years of experience are marked by a phase of reality shock, insecurity and emotional overloads (Huberman, 1989; Pelletier, 2015). Some researchers have studied it in search of solutions to help teachers manage their emotions: socioemotional skills (Collaborative for academic social and emotional learning, 2003; Yoder, 2014). However, the majority of this research concerns classroom teachers (Corcoran and Tormey, 2012; Zinsser, Deham, Curby and Shewark, 2015) and very little of this research has focused on beginning teachers in physical education. This study looked at the emotions and socio-emotional skills of a beginning teacher in physical education when managing a classroom in which he was confronted with a difficult situation. For the purposes of our research, we chose the case study. This research aimed to identify and describe the emotions and understand the participant’s mobilized socio-emotional skills. Our research is therefore based on the interpretive paradigm, as it encourages us to understand the participant's perspective (Godoy, 1995). We found that it is possible to acquire these skills, despite the teacher's lack of theoretical knowledge on this subject. In fact, the participant mobilized all five socio-emotional skills using five different resources, which are: previous experiences, academic disciplines, continuing education, exchanges with professional colleagues and, above all, personal psychotherapy.

The present thesis “Personal Resources: Explorative Studies analyzing the Concept, the Development and the Promotion in Children and Adults” focuses on the field of Positive Psychology. This comparatively new field of research aims to examine personal strengths and virtues to ascertain the role of positive experiences, to delineate the function of positive relationships, and to understand how these factors contribute to well-being (Gable & Haidt, 2005). In addition, another goal of Positive Psychology is to develop effective interventions, aiming to increase and sustain processes that strengthen these resources. Thus, my thesis will contribute to a broader understanding of the concepts of personal resources and well-being, as well as their development and promotion. Therefore, I will present findings from four cross-sectional and longitudinal studies with children and adults as participants. In Chapter 1, I introduce the most central concepts of Positive Psychology research and constitute the central questions guiding my thesis. Chapters 2 to 5 present the findings of my empirical research: In Chapter 2, I investigate the concepts of resources and human well-being. Therefore, I will analyze the most important human resources and their complex interplay and impact on human well-being. My aim is to contribute to a more comprehensive framework in this comparatively new field of research. As Positive Psychology further strives to establish effective interventions, I additionally investigate the development and promotion of resources and well-being in children and adults (see Chapters 3-5). In Chapter 3, I concentrate in particular on preschool children and their socio-emotional competencies, and the promotion of these within our mentoring-based prevention program “HUCKEPACK”. A further aim of my thesis is to contribute to a better understanding of the processes fostering positive intervention outcomes. Hence, in Chapter 4 I focus on the causal mechanisms that bring about change within mentoring relationships. More specifically, I examine whether mentors’ socio-emotional competencies influence the mentees’ socio-emotional development within these mentorships. In Chapter 5, I address the question whether personal resources develop in adulthood while focusing on volunteers in our mentoring program in comparison to non-volunteers. Finally, Chapter 6 summarizes the findings presented in my thesis and provides prospects for future research. In Chapter 7 I submit a German version of this summary.

Digital games are being increasingly implemented in the educational sector to improvevarious skills. Among these the effectiveness of digital game-based learning (DGBL) on the socio-emotional ability of individuals have been investigated with overall positive results. However, a limited number of studies have investigated the effectiveness of DGBL on this ability in children with intellectual disability and no studies have researched whether DGBL could be effective on the socio-emotional skills of children with this form of disability. Thus, the current study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of DGBL on the specific socio-emotional skill of emotion recognition in children with intellectual disability in the educational sector. The following research question was formulated: Does DGBL increase the socio-emotional skill of emotion recognition in children with intellectual disability. To answer this question a quasiexperimental one-group pretest-posttest design was adopted where participants engaged in a DGBL-intervention where they played a game aimed at improving their emotion recognition ability. Participants were selected via purposive sampling and the final sample consisted of N=7. The sample consisted of children with intellectual disability between the age span of six and nine of both male and female gender. The experiment consisted of three parts: a pretest where data in terms of the socio-emotional skill of emotion recognition was collected, the actual intervention where the participants engaged inplaying a digital game, and lastly, a posttest where the skill of emotion recognition was measured again. The data was subsequently analyzed via a paired sample t-test. The results of the study showed that DGBL did not significantly increase the socio-emotional skill of emotion recognition in children with intellectual disability. This result in part contradicts earlier research on DGBL and intellectual disability as well as DGBL andsocio-emotional skill where significant effects have been identified. However, since no previous research has investigated whether DGBL could be effective in increasing the socio-emotional skill of children with intellectual disability, future research is needed to confirm or reject the present results. In summary, the current research has extended on current knowledge and provided important implications for the field of special education.

[pt] A dissertação teve o objetivo de documentar as ações adotadas pelos governos de Acre, Pará, Amazonas, Roraima, Bahia, Pernambuco, Sergipe e Piauí para fornecer educação aos alunos de suas redes de ensino médio durante o período de suspensão das aulas presenciais, no contexto da pandemia da Covid-19. Recupera, assim, a história de parte das ações de oito secretarias estaduais de educação, a partir de estudos prévios e do levantamento das medidas legais e das ações educacionais emergenciais divulgadas nos sites institucionais das secretarias desses estados e no Portal do Consed (Conselho Nacional de Secretários de Educação), no período de suspensão das aulas presenciais entre março de 2020 e julho de 2021. Nesse período, foram registradas inclusive iniciativas que, mesmo sendo anteriores ao contexto da pandemia, tiveram continuidade nos dois anos de fechamentos das escolas. Os estados selecionados formam quatro pares com indicadores socioeconômicos e educacionais contrastantes e fazem parte das duas regiões com menores índices de desenvolvimento. As ações educacionais promovidas por esses oito estados durante a pandemia foram organizadas em dois eixos que reúnem, respectivamente, políticas e programas de natureza pedagógica e de natureza social e socioemocional. O eixo que reúne as iniciativas estaduais de natureza pedagógica contempla oito dimensões, com subdivisões, que exprimem conteúdos próprios a cada estado, a saber: suspensão das aulas; acesso a tecnologias para o ensino remoto; formação de profissionais da educação; busca ativa; educação inclusiva; educação e diversidade; ações envolvendo o currículo escolar e avaliação. Em conjunto, essas dimensões dizem respeito a iniciativas estaduais voltadas para questões curriculares e de ensino que estão no centro dos esforços pedagógicos para garantir a aprendizagem dos alunos. O segundo eixo reúne iniciativas estaduais de natureza social e emocional e contempla seis dimensões que exprimem o apoio das secretarias de educação e dos governos estaduais a alunos, familiares e professores durante o fechamento das escolas, a saber: apoio a famílias vulneráveis; alimentação; relação família-escola; apoio emocional; segurança; transporte escolar. A pesquisa teve como hipótese que, mesmo no contexto de regiões com menor desenvolvimento, estados mais ricos e com melhores índices de desenvolvimento e de resultados no Ideb tenderiam a mobilizar mais cedo e a promover mais iniciativas educacionais durante o fechamento das escolas, em contraste com estados com mais baixos índices socioeconômicos e educacionais. Os resultados não confirmaram nossa hipótese já que há variações importantes na oferta de ações educacionais emergenciais que não estão relacionadas com o nível de desenvolvimento socioeconômico e educacional do estado em análise. Por exemplo, na retomada das aulas na modalidade remota, o Pará, maior PIB da Região Norte, e Piauí, segundo menor PIB da Região Nordeste, demoraram quase o mesmo tempo, menos de 10 dias. A Bahia, o estado mais rico do Nordeste, demorou mais de três meses em oferecer ensino remoto. Sergipe e Piauí, os dois estados mais pobres do Nordeste, foram os que mais desenvolveram ações de formação de professores, ultrapassando os estados mais ricos, ou seja, Pernambuco e Bahia. Pernambuco foi o estado que mais investiu em ações de Busca Ativa, contrastando com Sergipe, Piauí, Roraima e Pará. Pará foi o estado que menos apresentou ações de apoio envolvendo recursos tecnológicos para alunos e professores, seguido pelo estado de Amazonas, ao passo que o Piauí fez maiores investimentos nessa dimensão, seguido por Pernambuco e Sergipe. No entanto, para além dessas variações, a constatação mais importante desta pesquisa diz respeito ao número significativo e à dupla natureza ao mesmo tempo social e pedagógica das ações que as secretarias estaduais foram capazes de promover no contexto de fechamento das escolas. / [en] This thesis aims to document the actions taken by the governments of Acre, Pará, Amazonas, Roraima, Bahia, Pernambuco, Sergipe and Piauí to provide education to students in their high school networks during the period of suspension of faceto-face classes, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. Thus, it recovers the history of part of the actions of eight state departments of education, based on previous studies and the survey of legal measures and emergency educational actions published on the institutional websites of the departments of these states and on Portal do Consed (Conselho Nacional de Secretários de Educação), in the period of suspension of face-to-face classes between March 2020 and July 2021. During this period, initiatives were even registered that, even before the context of the pandemic, continued in the two years of school closures. The selected states form four pairs with contrasting socioeconomic and educational indicators and are part of the two regions with the lowest development rates. The educational actions promoted by these eight states during the pandemic were organized into two axes that bring together, respectively, policies and programs of a pedagogical nature and of a social and socio-emotional nature. The axis that brings together state initiatives of a pedagogical nature includes eight dimensions, with subdivisions, which express content specific to each state, namely: suspension of classes; access to technologies for remote teaching; training of education professionals; active search; inclusive education; education and diversity; actions involving the school curriculum and assessment. Taken together, these dimensions concern state initiatives focused on curricular and teaching issues that are at the heart of pedagogical efforts to ensure student learning. The second axis brings together state initiatives of a social and emotional nature and includes six dimensions that express the support of education secretariats and state governments to students, family members and teachers during school closures, namely: support for vulnerable families; food; family-school relationship; emotional support; safety; school bus. The research has hypothesized that, even in the context of less developed regions, states that are richer and with better development indicators and results in the Ideb would tend to mobilize earlier and promote better educational initiatives during school closures, in contrast to states with lower socioeconomic and educational indicators. The results did not confirm our hypothesis, since there are important variations in the offer of emergency educational actions that are not related to the level of socioeconomic and educational development of the state under analysis. For example, in the resumption of classes in the remote modality, Pará, the highest GDP in the North Region, and Piauí, the second lowest GDP in the Northeast Region, took almost the same time to implement online learning and resume classes, less than 10 days. Bahia, the richest state in the Northeast, took more than three months to offer distance learning. Sergipe and Piauí, the two poorest states in the Northeast, were the ones that developed teacher training measures the most, surpassing the richest states, Pernambuco and Bahia. Pernambuco was the state that most invested in Busca Ativa actions, in contrast to Sergipe, Piauí, Roraima and Pará. Pará was the state that least presented support actions involving technological resources for students and teachers, followed by the state of Amazonas, while Piauí made greater investments in this dimension, followed by Pernambuco and Sergipe. However, in addition to these variations, the most important finding of this research concerns the significant number and the dual nature, both social and pedagogical, of the measures that state departments were able to promote in the context of school closures.

In response to the global Covid-19 pandemic, universities across the world moved coursework online and frequently used Zoom videotelephony software to replicate the experience of learning in a classroom. While this platform supported certain aspects of the traditional classroom, such as immediacy of responses and the facilitation of social interactions, learning via Zoom also differed in various ways from the familiar classroom experience. Although there has been considerable research on online learning, most studies focused on an asynchronous design and interaction. Thus, the understanding of learning within synchronous, video-mediated platforms, such as Zoom, is nascent. In this study, the data was derived from a focus group with eight university students from the United States that was conducted over Zoom. Using content analysis, the transcripts of the focus group's interaction yielded four themes: Zoom Challenges, Zoom Benefits, Faculty Proficiency, and Student Learning Experiences. Cameras, a distinguishing feature of Zoom, could strengthen engagement, yet they also heighten anxiety for some and fatigue for most users. However, when those challenges were mitigated and the benefits harnessed by faculty informed about how to support student learning, students experienced a deepened sense of connection to their peers, the faculty, and their learning. Family science educators who recognize the strengths and limitations of this platform have the opportunity to teach more effectively and support their students' socio-emotional learning and well-being.

Syftet med denna studie är att belysa hur nyutbildade förskollärare upplever sig rustade för mötet med barns socioemotionella utveckling mot de krav som de har mött i förskolans verksamhet. Förskolan har under de senaste 50-åren förändrats vilket ställer ökade krav på förskollärarens kapacitet. Det ställer även krav på samarbetet inom arbetslaget där samverkan och förhållningssätt blir avgörande för den pedagogiska kvaliteten i förskolan. I studien används en kvalitativ forskningsmetod bestående av intervjuer med nyutbildade förskollärare. Genom att välja denna metod kunde vi synliggöra deltagarnas upplevelser och åsikter. Resultaten tyder på att de nyutbildade förskollärarna inte fullt ut känner sig förberedda för att möta och stödja barns socioemotionella utveckling i förskolan. Följden av bristande samverkan mellan utbildning och verksamhet kan resultera i att barnen i förskolan inte erbjuds de förutsättningar som krävs för att kunna lyckas. Resultaten synliggör en önskan och ett behov av en mer praktiknära utbildning för att stärka den pedagogiska kvaliteten och motverka pedagogiska begränsningar i förskolans verksamhet. / The purpose of this study is to highlight how newly trained preschool teachers feel they are equipped to deal with children's socio-emotional development against the demands they have encountered in preschool. The preschool has changed over the past 50 years, which increases the demands on the preschool teacher's capacity. It also places demands on the collaboration within the work team, where consensus and approach become decisive for the pedagogical quality in the preschool. The study uses a qualitative research method consisting of interviews with newly graduated preschool teachers. By choosing this method, we were able to make the participants' experiences and opinions visible. The results indicate that the newly qualified preschool teachers do not feel fully prepared to meet and support children's socio-emotional development in preschool. The consequence of a lack of cooperation between the education and the preschool practice can result in the children in preschool not being offered the conditions required to be able to succeed. The results visualize a desire and a need for a more practical education to strengthen pedagogical quality and counteract pedagogical limitations in the preschool's activities.

Die Förderung funktionaler sozio-emotionaler Kompetenz in der Vorschulzeit (Altersspanne 3 bis 6 Jahre) ist von entscheidender Bedeutung, um der Entstehung psychischer Störungen vorzubeugen. Bislang gibt es nur wenige Studien, die die Auswirkungen digitaler Trainings auf die sozio-emotionale Entwicklung von Vorschulkindern untersuchen. Ebenso liefert die Forschung umfangreiche Informationen über typisches sozio-emotionales Verhalten bei Vorschulkindern, während weniger darüber bekannt ist, wie das Gehirn diese Funktionen umsetzt. Ziel der Dissertation war es daher, grundlegende und komplexe Aspekte der sozio-emotionalen Kompetenz von Vorschulkindern zu untersuchen, indem ihre Reife und Trainierbarkeit mit Verhaltens- und neuronalen Maßen erfasst wurden. In den Studien 1 und 2 wurden ereigniskorrelierte Potenziale und die Fast Periodic Visual Stimulation Methode eingesetzt, um neuronale Mechanismen der Emotionserkennung zu quantifizieren. Beide Studien ergaben das Vorhandensein grundlegender Mechanismen der Emotionserkennung in dieser Altersgruppe. Darüber hinaus zeigten Vorschulkinder einen Verarbeitungsvorteil von fröhlichen gegenüber ärgerlichen oder neutralen Gesichtern. Studie 3 untersuchte die Trainierbarkeit sozio-emotionaler Kompetenz anhand des digitalen Trainings Zirkus Empathico. Die Zirkus-Empathico-Gruppe zeigte im Vergleich zur Kontrollgruppe einen Anstieg sowohl der grundlegenden als auch der komplexen sozio-emotionalen Kompetenzen. Darüber hinaus ergab sich für die Zirkus-Empathico-Gruppe auf der neuronalen Ebene einen Verarbeitungsvorteil für fröhliche Gesichter. Zusammenfassend zeigt sich ein erheblicher Nutzen neuronaler Marker für das Verständnis von Mechanismen, welchen der Emotionserkennung von Vorschulkindern zugrunde liegen. Die vielversprechende Evidenz für die Wirksamkeit eines digitalen sozio-emotionalen Kompetenztrainings ermöglicht darüber hinaus weitere Überlegungen zur Nachhaltigkeit der Effekte sowie der gesellschaftlichen Bedeutung. / Promoting functional socio-emotional competence in the preschool years (age range 3 to 6 years) is crucial to prevent the development of psychological disorders. To date, there are few studies examining the effects of digital training on the socio-emotional development of preschool children. Similarly, research provides extensive information on typical socio-emotional behaviors in preschool children, while less is known about how the brain implements these functions. Therefore, the goal of this dissertation was to examine fundamental and complex aspects of preschoolers' socio-emotional competence by assessing their maturity and trainability with behavioral and neuronal measures. Studies 1 and 2 used event-related potentials and the Fast Periodic Visual Stimulation method to quantify neural mechanisms of emotion recognition. Both studies revealed the presence of basic emotion recognition mechanisms in this age group. In addition, preschoolers showed a processing advantage of happy over angry or neutral faces. Study 3 investigated the trainability of socio-emotional competence using the digital training Zirkus Empathico. The Zirkus Empathico group showed an increase in both basic and complex socio-emotional competencies compared to the control group. In addition, the Zirkus Empathico group showed a processing advantage for happy faces at the neuronal level. In summary, neuronal markers show considerable utility for understanding mechanisms underlying emotion recognition in preschool children. The promising evidence for the efficacy of digital socio-emotional skills training also allows further consideration of the sustainability of the effects as well as the societal significance.