The effect of visual impairment on emotional development and emotional competence in learners who are visual impairment

Abstract Background and Aim: Emotion is a strong affective perception or feeling that arises from personal circumstances, one's mood, or communication with others. Emotions are multidimensional and have holistic structures that consist of different dimensions such as behavioral expression, physiological layers, phenomenological experience, cognitive processes and social context. The aim of this study was to investigate the structure of emotion and its components, classification of emotions, the effect of visual impairment on the development of emotion, identification of emotions in learners with visual impairment, emotional competence and the application of emotion identification for students with visual impairment. The method of this research is descriptive and review. Articles and books in reputable scientific databases from 2001 to 2022 were used to collect information. Conclusion: The emotional development of children and adolescents with visual impairment develops differently compared to their normal peers. The ability to accurately identify the emotions of others is considered central to achieving emotional competence. Understanding the content of other people's emotional states goes beyond simple understanding of primary emotions such as happiness, anger or sadness. Although people with visual impairment do not necessarily have a problem in understanding basic emotions, they are delayed in identifying emotions and especially in identifying higher-order emotions such as anger, embarrassment, and disappointment. Considering that the social world becomes integrated and comprehensible for people with visual impairment through the understanding of these emotions. Therefore, it is possible to improve the development of their emotional competence by teaching higher-order emotions.