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(How) Do We Teach Emotions?

Author

Listed:
  • Anjali Adukia
  • Matthew Bonci
  • Paula Dastres Gallardo
  • Emileigh Harrison
  • Jake Nicoll
  • Teodora Szasz

Abstract

Emotional intelligence constitutes a key component of human capital, shaped partially by educational materials. Using machine learning and generative AI tools, we examine emotional content in public-school textbooks and children’s literature. A stark mismatch emerges: text exposes children to a broad emotional range, but images overwhelmingly depict happiness and calm, regardless of emotions described in text on the same page. Nearly half of pages show zero overlap between the emotions described in text and those shown in images. This pattern persists across time, contexts, and identities. Household purchases and library inventories suggest content may be endogenously shaped by consumer demand favoring “positive” cover imagery, implying market forces narrow the emotional landscape children encounter.

Suggested Citation

  • Anjali Adukia & Matthew Bonci & Paula Dastres Gallardo & Emileigh Harrison & Jake Nicoll & Teodora Szasz, 2026. "(How) Do We Teach Emotions?," NBER Working Papers 35789, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35789
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • L82 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Entertainment; Media
    • Z11 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economics of the Arts and Literature
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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