Abstract:

Emotional intelligence (EI), in its original definition as an ability, is defined as the skill to perceive, identify, understand and regulate one’s own emotions and those of others. As a skill, EI forms part of the intellectual abilities such as verbal intelligence, making it a predictor of academic performance (AP), particularly in the subject of Language. Language is a vehicle of communication and transmission which allows perception and expression of emotions, and also makes it easier for them to be understood and handled. Although most people develop skills for identifying and expressing emotions, it is not the case with the whole population: there are individuals who do not manage to develop this skill, a failure known as alexithymia.

Understanding and using emotions is a determining factor in psychosocial development during adolescence. Because of this, it has to be addressed in the educational area in general and compulsory secondary education (ESO) in particular. What becomes particularly important is to understand the relationship between EI and alexithymia, with the influence of both constructs on academic performance.

Specifically, this research has used musical stimuli to analyse the perception and identification of emotions as a basic component of EI, given that music is considered a powerful means of emotional expression.

The purpose of this research was to analyse whether problems with identifying emotions, as manifested in alexithymia, as well the sensitivity to identify emotions through music, are relevant aspects in academic performance. The sample consisted of a total of 160 secondary-school students (M = 13.70; SD = 1.57), of whom 46% were girls. As we had hypothesised, the results demonstrate that alexithymia, as evaluated using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), has a negative correlation with the sensitivity to identify emotions through music and with EI, assessed through the Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS-24). In turn, they show the way in which these variables, which are involved in the processing of emotions, predict academic performance, explaining a greater variance in Language than in Mathematics. The conclusion is therefore the importance of implementing musical education programmes, as they are considered likely to have a positive impact on the development of EI and improve academic performance.

Keywords:

Emotional identification, music, alexithymia, emotional intelligence, academic performance.