Ilona Tarasova

Abstract The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between arts participation and social-emotional development of 300 preschool children (4 to 5 years) in Wuhan (China). Children received improvisation classes, sessions where they were asked to listen to and discuss music, and typical art lessons. Children were administered the Emotional Matching Test and the Ages & Stages Questionnaires: Social-Emotional. This study demonstrates that arts education affects preschool-age children's knowledge of emotions and social-emotional competence. The results showed a direct strong correlation between emotional knowledge and arts education with the correlation coefficient ranging from 0.718 to 0.8923. The findings of this study may be useful in designing programs for kindergartens to prevent psychosocial development delays and behavioural problems in children that are related to insufficient knowledge of emotions. Future research will benefit from the comparative study of social and emotional learning (SEL) programs, extracurricular social-emotional skills training, and SEL integrated into lessons.

The article deals with the problem of a person’s conscious choice between happiness and suffering. At first glance, happiness and suffering are two different paths, and one should choose which road to take. On the one hand, suffering is an obstacle on the way to oneself, to a happy existence. On the other hand, one chooses suffering and happiness willingly, happiness is proportionate to suffering. One should not forget that existence has no meaning if it brings merely pain and dissatisfaction, so it is very important to strive to be happy. Throughout the entire history of humanity, the problem of happiness and the search for the best way to be released from suffering is a pressing issue. The relevance of the problem is determined by the particular significance of the concepts under study, because every person’s natural desire, regardless of the era and area of residence, is to be happy and free. The concepts of “happiness” and “suffering” are not only philosophical but also sociocul...