Desarrollo de habilidades socioemocionales y habilidades de pensamiento: análisis de su correlación en el aprendizaje

The central purpose of a comprehensive education lies in the development of socioemotional skills and thinking skills. However, how do these two forms of skills connect? Is there a relationship between the emotional and the cognitive? The present study aims to address the following question: Does a higher development of socioemotional skills in a group of twelfth-grade students from a private educational institution in Colombia correspond to a higher development of thinking skills? To shed light on this, the Thinking Skills Test and the scale Profile of Emotional Competences were used in a sample of 61 students. Subsequently, the correlation between both variables was analyzed using the Pearson correlation coefficient. The results indicated that the sample possesses a high level of emotional intelligence, implying that students have the ability to identify, understand, express, regulate, and utilize their own emotions and those of others. On the other hand, it was observed from the data that the sample has a strong capacity to apply fundamental thinking processes. However, it was found that the statistical correlation between the two types of skills is null.