Motivation and emotion/Book/2024/Psychological literacy

Psychological literacy:
What is psychological literacy, why does it matter, and how can it be fostered?

Overview

Figure 1. Alex, the student who is considered psychologically literate.

Case study

Alex has a passion for studying the human mind and is about to graduate with a Bachelor in Psychology degree. Over the course of her studies, she has gained adequate skills and tools to be able to utilise her knowledge for psychological theories and apply it to everyday life. In her spare time, she has also been expanding her knowledge through extra study and work experience in various healthcare positions.

Through her knowledge and experience, she can now easily recognise the emotional state of herself and others and respond appropriately using psychological science. These skills have helped her reach her academic, professional and personal goals. She is very happy with her life. It is fair to say that Alex is a psychological literate citizen.

Psychological literacy is a modern psychological concept, which is defined as a person's ability to understand and regulate their own mind and behaviour, as well as recognising and responding to the emotional well being of others. People experience a wide variety of emotions (as displayed in Figure 2), therefore becoming a Psychological Literate citizen can support the communication of not only one's self but also society.

Figure 2: Picture collage of a range of human emotions. Learning the skills to effectively understand and respond appropriately to emotions, develops a person’s psychological literacy.

Equipping people with the skills and tools to understand and regulate their own feelings and behaviour, can be beneficial for not only the individual but also for society. Psychological literacy also has many immediate, short term and long term benefits and if the approach is introduced to people early in life, can offer better academic, social and mental health outcomes.

However this psychological concept is still in the early stages of development, with questions regarding the reliability and validity of this concept needing to be investigated. Further research regarding the social benefit of if and how it can be implemented in today's society is required.

Focus questions:

What is psychological literacy?
Why is psychological literacy important?
How can psychological literacy be fostered?

What is psychological literacy?

Psychological literacy is a person's ability to utilise their knowledge of psychological theory in practice, primarily in everyday life. This can be measured through the assessment of specific key concepts that a person displays such as self-management, resilience and use of positive psychology.

Definition

Psychological literacy as defined by Cranney et al. (2012, piii) is “…the general capacity to adaptively and intentionally apply psychology to meet personal, professional, and societal needs". In simpler terms, it is the capacity that an individual person has to self-manage their emotions and to recognise the emotional state of others, in order to produce positive social outcomes.

Brief history of psychological literacy

The History of psychological literacy is quite brief, as it is a relatively new concept. The American psychologist Alan Boneau, only coined the term 'psychological literacy' in 1990 (Boneau, 1990). During his research, Boneau was looking to define key concepts in multiple psychological subfields that would be most useful for those in the psychological society, especially students. This is why he then developed the term ‘psychological literacy’, which has individual subsections that contain multiple key concepts, to be measured in order to assess the level of PL a person has. Boneau collected research through enquiries and questionnaires from other researchers in the field, to adequately rate and organise the key concepts in order of importance and relevance (Boneau, 1990). Although Boneau’s research was extensive and produced the basis of PL as a concept, he emphasised the importance of further development in this area and welcomed further suggestions.

Despite Boneau’s research, this concept was sparsely used in mainstream psychology. This was until 2010 when more interpretations of Boneau’s research was expanded upon and used. During this period the term was more specifically used to describe graduates of psychological education (Harris et al., 2021). These are often referred to as graduate attributes, such as knowledge, skills and attitudes.

However more recently in the last five years, psychological literacy has been generally applied to the global population. Further research has been undertaken on the effectiveness of teaching these concepts to young people and children and how to incorporate this learning into age-appropriate language through the school curriculum (Cranney et al., 2022b). Since the increase of interest in PL during the 2010's, more studies have been conducted to test the validity and reliability of this psychological concept.

Concepts of psychological literacy

Psychological literacy consists of these key concepts/theories


Key concepts	Definitions
Resilience	Through learned optimism, an individual can build resilience.
Self-management	The process where an individual learns healthy ways to manage and self-regulate their emotional well-being.
Positive psychology	Is an approach to mental and emotional well being through the balance of positive and negative experiences. Effective coping strategies and emotional skill development are used to create long term positive psychological health.
Adaptive cognition theory	Is defined as global ways of thinking and consequently behaving that are beneficial to one's (and others) survival and well-being.

Why is psychological literacy important?

Having psychological literacy skills, whether basic or advanced, can be beneficial for not only the individual but other aspects of society. For example, parents and carers of children may find that having PL, benefits them when interacting and parenting children. Also, if children are taught from early childhood how to manage their emotions, as they grow up they are less likely to experience antisocial behaviours which then benefits society.

Importance for individuals

Early intervention of psychological literacy during childhood equips the child with appropriate tools to learn how to self-regulate and manage their emotional well-being. These tools help children learn to self soothe which in turn builds resilience and empathy which is essential for adults. Therefore, as the child enters adolescence and eventually adulthood, having the foundational skills for resilience and self-management already gives them an advantage to achieve their personal, social and professional goals. Studies have also shown that people with high levels of emotional literacy experience lower rates of mental illness. (Bezzina & Camilleri, 2021).

Importance for parents and carers of children

Figure 3 : An image of two woman showing empathy and love towards a young child. This helps the child's development of Empathy.

Raising and parenting children can, at times, be a challenging and overwhelming experience. Having a good understanding of how and why children may behave and express themselves benefits not only the child but also the guardian (Black & Trude 2019). A psychologically literate would have a basic understanding of developmental psychology, therefore would have appropriate knowledge to support the child/children through the different stages of their childhood.

This is essential when supporting children with the development of empathy, which begins in early childhood. Empathy is a crucial part of human emotion, helping us connect with others and function effectively in society. It is a vital part of building & establishing relationships and avoiding conflict (Schonert-Reichl, 2013). Therefore, supporting children in the development of empathy in early childhood, as shown in Figure 3, supports them in learning how to have healthy relationships within families and in furthermore in their future relationships.

Importance for society

The importance of psychological literacy for society is that if a person has high PL they are more likely to be a productive member of society. The more productive members of a society, the stronger the economy and labour market which reduces the amount of people living in lower socio-economic lifestyles and reduces antisocial behaviour (Brindle et al., 2019). Higher levels of psychological literacy also increases academic/career outcomes which in turns reduces poverty.

The benefits of psychological literacy

Psychological literacy offers benefits that are short-term and long-term, as the skills learned can be utilised from early childhood into adulthood.

Short term benefits

The short-term benefits for children, if introduced in early childhood, is that PL can reduce the occurrence/frequency of tantrums and emotional outbursts. As the children are already developing the skills for PL, they can be more independent and focus on building healthy relationships and express themselves in an effective and appropriate manner (Lincoln et al., 2017). This also benefits parents and carers in the short-term.

When a person experiences emotional distress during adolescence and adulthood, they would also already have the tools and skills to manage their emotions which would in turn reduce the negative health outcomes. This would place less stress on the healthcare system and offer better performance in social settings, workplaces/schools and relationships (Cranney et al., 2022b).

Long term benefits

Individuals who can self-manage their emotional well-being, have a better chance of completing their education, forming healthy relationships and becoming productive members of society (Olympia et al., 1994). Productive members of society are also less likely to engage in anti-social behaviour. Therefore, learning these skills in childhood are beneficial in the long-term outcomes.

Increasing the occurrence of PL in childhood would then reduce anti-social behaviour and criminal activity, as the individuals who engage in these activities often aren't equipped with the skills to self-regulate their emotional/mental well-being (Gaik et al., 2010). Through the implementation of proficient psychological literacy, the local economy with benefit through the increase in productivity and the decrease in poverty.

A study conducted by James (2011), found that law students experienced a high rate of mental illnesses related to the profession. These include high rates of depression, anxiety and work burnout. However, when offered psychological literacy education including an early intervention of mindfulness and self-management training, the students experienced lower rates of mental disorders related to their profession during their studies but most importantly in the long-term.

How can psychological literacy be fostered?

One approach to foster psychological literacy is to incorporate this concept into the health studies of the school curriculum, from early childhood through to adolescence (Hulme & Cranney, 2021). Teaching children about positive psychology and mindfulness will support them with self-managing their emotion well-being (Hulme & Taylor, 2015). Intervention of psychological literacy during early childhood education will be beneficial, as this is a key developmental period in a child's life where they are learning how to navigate social interactions.

A study conducted by Arslan et al. (2022) measured the effectiveness of storytelling, using positive psychology literature, on the well-being of high school students. They found that the students who took part in mindfulness story telling experienced an improvement in students’ mindfulness, optimism, happiness, and positive emotions, and caused reduction in depression, anxiety, pessimism, and other negative emotions over a 5-week period (Arslan et al., 2022).Therefore, incorporating PL training into the curriculum through storytelling would be an effective approach.

Criticisms of psychological literacy

We have discussed why psychological literacy is important as well as the short- and long-term benefits associated with adequate PL however it is still a relatively new concept. The validity and reliability of the concept need to be critically analysed. There is also no framework for the appropriate/adequate delivery of psychological literacy for either children or adults. Most research has focused on the benefits for persons in the psychology field rather than the general population.

It is not realistic to expect that people with PL can ‘fix’ issues/problems with their knowledge. It can also be harmful if overused in everyday life and in all human interactions. Some people may find it challenging and exhausting to translate psychological theory into all real-world situations (Pownall, 2017). This can create unrealistic expectations for those who are educated in psychology to constantly evaluate and provide solutions to psychological issues in the real-world.

Figure 4 : Alex is feeling sad and overwhelmed

Case Study

Although Alex is considered a psychological literate citizen, it is becoming increasingly exhausting for her to always be expected to ‘fix’ problems using her skills and knowledge. Alex is a supportive person who likes to help her friends and family, however those around Alex are now always expecting her to provide theory based advise. Her psychological literacy has now become a burden and is impacting how Alex is interacting and spending time with people.

Conclusion

To conclude this chapter, it is evident that Psychological Literacy has validity for adults to be able to adequately self-manage their emotion well-being. Teaching PL during early childhood and through to adulthood has many short- and long-term benefits including a healthy development of Empathy for children and young people which in turn offers better mental health and well-being outcomes. This can be incorporated into the school curriculum and effectively delivered through fictional storytelling. However, this concept is still relatively new and further research is needed to provide conclusive evidence of the role that psychological literacy plays in today’s society. Further research is also needed to produce framework for the appropriate/adequate delivery of psychological literacy for children and adults.

References

Arslan, G., Yıldırım, M., Zangeneh, M., & Ak, İ. (2022). Benefits of positive psychology-based story reading on adolescent mental health and well-being. Child indicators research, 15(3), 781-793. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-021-09891-4

Bezzina, A., & Camilleri, S. (2021). ‘Happy Children’A project that has the aim of developing emotional literacy and conflict resolution skills. A Maltese Case Study. Pastoral care in education, 39(1), 48-66. https://doi.org/10.1080/02643944.2020.1774633

Black, M. M., & Trude, A. C. (2019). Conceptualizations of child development benefit from inclusion of the nurturing care framework. The Journal of nutrition, 149(8), 1307–1308. https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/nxz114

Boneau, C. A. (1990). Psychological literacy: A first approximation. American Psychologist, 45(7), 891. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.45.7.891

Brindle, K. A., Bowles, T. V., & Freeman, E. (2019). Gender, education and engagement in antisocial and risk-taking behaviours and emotional dysregulation. Issues in Educational Research, 29(3), 633–648. https://www.iier.org.au/iier29/brindle.pdf

Cranney, J., Botwood, L., & Morris, S. (2012a). National standards for psychological literacy and global citizenship: Outcomes of undergraduate psychology education. Australia: The University of New South Wales. Dostupné z: https://groups.psychology.org.au/assets/files/cranney_ntf_final_report_231112_final_pdf.pdf

Cranney, J., Dunn, D. S., Hulme, J. A., Nolan, S. A., Morris, S., & Norris, K. (2022b). Psychological literacy and undergraduate psychology education: An international provocation. In Frontiers in Education (Vol. 7, p. 790600). Frontiers Media SA. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2022.790600

Gaik, L. P., Abdullah, M. C., Elias, H., & Uli, J. (2010). Development of antisocial behaviour. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 7, 383–388. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.10.052

Harris, R., Pownall, M., Thompson, C., Newell, S. J., & Blundell-Birtill, P. (2021). Students' Understanding of Psychological Literacy in the UK Undergraduate Curriculum. Psychology Teaching Review, 27(1), 56–68. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1304625.pdf

Hulme, J. A., & Cranney, J. (2021). Psychological literacy and learning for life. In International handbook of psychology learning and teaching (pp. 1-29). Cham: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26248-8_42-2

James, C. (2011). Law student wellbeing: Benefits of promoting psychological literacy and self-awareness using mindfulness, strengths theory and emotional intelligence. Legal Education Review, 21(1/2), 217–233. https://search.informit.org/doi/pdf/10.3316/informit.868049526963988

Lincoln, C. R., Russell, B. S., Donohue, E. B., & Racine, L. E. (2017). Mother-child interactions and preschoolers’ emotion regulation outcomes: Nurturing autonomous emotion regulation. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 26, 559–573. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-016-0561-z

Olympia, D. E., Sheridan, S. M., Jenson, W. R., & Andrews, D. (1994). Using student‐managed interventions to increase homework completion and accuracy. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 27(1), 85–99. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.1994.27-85

Pownall. M.. (2017, June 27). Overrated: Psychological Literacy. The British Psychological Society. https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/overrated-psychological-literacy

Schonert-Reichl, K. (2013). Promoting empathy in school-aged children: Current state of the field and implications for research and practice. In School rampage shootings and other youth disturbances (pp. 159–203). https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kimberly-Schonert-Reichl/publication/299566650_Promoting_empathy_in_school-aged_children_Current_approaches_and_implications_for_practice/links/56ffc38d08aee995dde81820/Promoting-empathy-in-school-aged-children-Current-approaches-and-implications-for-practice.pdf

Taylor, J., & Hulme, J. (2015). Introducing a compendium of psychological literacy case studies: Reflections on psychological literacy in practice. Psychology Teaching Review, 21(2), 25-34. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1146628.pdf

External links

How reading fiction encourages empathy (Discover Magazine)
Mindfulness psychology (American Psychological Association)
Positive psychology (Blackdog Institute)
Positive psychology training uk (Positive psychology Training)
Psychological literacy – from classroom to real world (British Psychological Society)
Resilience guide for parents and teachers (American Psychological Association)
Self-management (Berkley Well-being Institute)