The Case for Emotional Literacy: the influence of emotional intelligence on problem behaviours in Malaysian secondary school students

There has been a recent renaissance in civics and moral education in the Asia-Pacific region. The need to incorporate the notion of emotional literacy into such programmes is discussed and results from the analysis of the influence that emotional literacy has on problem behaviours in Malaysian secondary school students are presented. Results indicated that emotional literacy, measured in terms of emotional intelligence, was linked to internalising and externalising problem behaviours. Emotional literacy also served as a moderating factor between parental monitoring and externalising problem behaviours. The need for developing emotional literacy programmes utilising the pedagogy of multiliteracies is discussed.