An exploration of the validity of a measure of emotional literacy.


Summary

There has been an increase in interest in ‘emotional literacy’ within the British education system in recent years. This increase has been attributed to the popularisation of the construct of emotional intelligence in the media. The promotion of emotional development in schools assumes that the ability to regulate emotions is a positive trait, which is associated with positive life outcomes. There is however, currently, little evidence to support the existence of such a relationship. The aim of the current study was to explore the validity of a popular measure of emotional literacy by investigating whether a relationship existed between the measure of emotional literacy and a measure of problem behaviours.

The research was carried out in the spring term of 2005 in a primary school in South Wales. A questionnaire design was used to explore whether there was a relationship between teacher rated emotional literacy scores and scores from Conners’ behaviour checklist for a sample of 109 junior aged pupils. The relationship was explored using an analysis of correlation. The difference between scores for males and females was also explored.

The analysis of correlation found statistically significant negative correlations between scores on the emotional literacy scale and scores on the Conners’ behaviour sub-scales. This means that lower emotional literacy scores were associated with increased problem behaviours. These results provide evidence of the concurrent validity of the emotional literacy scale and also support the notion that emotional literacy is associated with more or less adaptive behaviours. The causal nature of this relationship cannot be inferred from the current study and further research is recommended to explore alternative explanations for this relationship. Boys were scored significantly lower than girls on the emotional literacy scale and this finding is discussed within the context of increased rates of exclusion and behaviour difficulties for boys.

The results of the study are discussed within the context of the limitations of the current study and findings from previous research. The implications of this for schools, policy makers, educational psychologists and future research are reflected upon.


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