ABSTRACT
This study investigated the bidirectional relationship between social mastery motivation and social–emotional competence in a sample of Hong Kong Chinese kindergarten children. Participants were parents (15 fathers and 124 mothers) and teachers (22 in total) of 139 children (52.5% boys, mean age = 4.41 years) from a local kindergarten situated in a middle-socioeconomic area. At Time 1, parents provided demographic information, and teachers rated children’s social mastery motivation and social–emotional competence through questionnaires. Six months later, at Time 2, teachers performed the rating again. A cross-lagged path model demonstrated evidence for co-development between the two constructs. Children’s social mastery motivation at Time 1 positively predicted their social–emotional competence at Time 2 (β = 0.39, SE = 0.04, p < 0.001), and social–emotional competence at Time 1 significantly predicted social mastery motivation at Time 2 (β = 0.24, SE = 0.15, p < 0.01). The findings highlight that children who are more motivated to initiate and persist in social interactions tend to develop stronger social–emotional skills over time, and vice versa. The results also underscore the utility of the play-based approach by offering kindergarten children additional group play opportunities, such as sociodramatic play, to nurture these motivational desires and skills.