Bridging cognition and ethics: Socio-emotional skills and digital history literacy in fostering critical thinking

This study aims to analyze the impact of socio-emotional skills and digital literacy-based history learning on critical thinking, information processing, and ethical reasoning. It also explores the role of information processing and ethical reasoning as mediators between these variables. A quantitative approach was employed, involving 359 students from Banten Province, Indonesia. Data were collected using a Likert scale instrument (1–5) and analyzed with Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) using SmartPLS. The findings indicate that digital literacy-based history learning significantly influences critical thinking, information processing, and ethical reasoning. However, socio-emotional skills did not have a significant direct effect. Ethical reasoning was found to mediate the relationship between digital literacy-based history learning and critical thinking, while information processing did not mediate the relationship between socio-emotional skills and critical thinking. This study highlights the importance of integrating digital literacy and ethical reasoning in fostering critical thinking and suggests a stronger emphasis on teaching ethics and digital literacy in education. The originality of this research lies in testing a model that combines socio-emotional skills, digital literacy, and ethical reasoning within the context of history education in Indonesia, providing new insights into their impact on students' critical thinking abilities.