This study investigated the effects of maternal acceptance attitudes towards children's
emotional expressiveness and children’s emotional intelligences on peer interaction. A total of
145 Korean mothers with children from 3-5 years old and children's teachers were selected
from 4 kindergartens and 6 daycare centers in Incheon and Kyunggi areas. The results were
as follows. First, generally, children's emotional intelligence was significantly different
depending on gender of the children. Second, there was no difference based on age and
gender in maternal acceptance attitudes towards a child's positive emotional expressiveness,
but there was a difference based on gender in maternal acceptance attitudes toward a child's
negative emotional expressiveness. Third, the children's positive peer interaction was
significantly different depending on gender of the children, but the children's negative peer
interaction was significantly different based on age and gender of the children.