Emotional Schemas among Middle School Students

Abstract

Objectives: The study aims to identify the emotional schemata of middle school students and examine differences based on gender (males vs. females), specialization (scientific vs. literary), and parental status (presence of parents, loss of one parent, or loss of both parents).

Methodology: The study used a simple random sampling method with 539 male and female students from Al-Fallujah District schools under the Anbar Education Directorate. The sample included 357 students in scientific specializations and 182 in literary specializations, with 222 males and 317 females. Researchers used the Emotional Schema Scale developed by Robert Leahy in 2002, translating and adapting it to the Iraqi environment. The scale consists of 50 items across 14 domains, with response options ranging from "applies to me to a great extent" to "does not apply to me at all."

Results: The study results showed that the sample recorded a low degree of emotional schemas, which was statistically significant at the 0.05 level with a degree of freedom of 538, favoring the hypothetical mean. There was no statistically significant difference in emotional schemas based on gender, specialization (scientific vs. literary), or parental status (presence of both parents, loss of one, or loss of both).

Conclusion: Emotional schemas affect relationships, functional organization, self-perception, and generate emotional states like love, sadness, or anger. The study recommends further research on emotional schemas and social upbringing, considering personality traits and psychological and social factors among university students.