Emotion Recognition and Academic Achievement Among Singaporean Children

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 10:50 am Four Seasons Ballroom 4
  In Roundtable Session: Diverse Primary School Perspectives: Educator and Student SEL (Table 1)

Abstract

Understanding one’s own or other’s emotions is a fundamental skill in children’s lives. Studies in Western cultures have shown that children’s emotion understanding predicts their social competence, academic achievement, and psychological wellbeing. However, little is known regarding the development of Singaporean children’s emotion understanding and its relations to their developmental outcomes. This study examined Singaporean children’s emotion understanding and its relations to academic achievement. A total of 122 Singaporean children (61 girls) aged between 4-9 years old (M = 6.91, SD = 1.75) participated. The results revealed positive correlations between emotion recognition and children’s early reading skills and alphabetical writing. However, the relations differ between boys and girls, as well as between older and younger children.

Authors

• Yang Yang, National Institute of Education - Nanyang Technological University

• Kelly Adelia, Nanyang Technological University - National Institute of Education

• Corina Möller, Saarland University

• Stella Tsotsi, Oslo Metropolitan University

• Yue Yu, Nanyang Technological University - National Institute of Education