Promoting E-motional Skills in Cyberspace: The Relationship between Cyber-Emotional Skills and Digital Literacy

Öz

In today's interconnected digital landscape, navigating emotional content in virtual environments has become as critical as mastering technical skills. The convergence of emotional and digital literacy plays a pivotal role in shaping individual achievement and broader societal outcomes. This study explores how cyber-emotional skills, defined as the ability to manage emotions in digital contexts, contribute to digital literacy. A total of 283 university students from three Turkish institutions, selected through simple random sampling, participated in the study. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis revealed that cyber-emotional skills exert a significant influence on digital literacy, providing new insights into the interplay between emotional competence and digital literacy. These findings suggest that individuals with stronger cyber-emotional skills are better equipped to succeed in digital environments. A comprehensive understanding of how effectively individuals can manage emotions and emotion-related information in a digital environment substantially enhances their awareness of the digital dynamics and their competence in performing digital tasks. This reconceptualizes what it means to be successful in the online world and emphasizes the importance of emotional skills in shaping effective digital education strategies.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Cyber-Emotional Skills
• Digital Literacy
• E-Motions
• Higher Education
• Structural Equation Modelling

Siber Dünyada E-duygusal Becerilerin Teşvik Edilmesi: Siber-Duygusal Beceriler ve Dijital Okuryazarlık İlişkisi

Öz

Günümüzün dijital dünyasında, sanal ortamlardaki duygusal içeriği doğru yönetebilme, teknik beceriler kadar önemli hale gelmiştir. Duygusal ve dijital okuryazarlıkların birleşimi hem bireysel başarıyı hem de toplumsal dinamikleri şekillendirmede kritik bir rol oynamaktadır. Bu çalışma, dijital çağda giderek önem kazanan siber duygusal becerilerin (e-motions) dijital okuryazarlık üzerindeki etkisini incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Araştırmaya Türkiye'deki üç farklı üniversiteden basit rastgele örnekleme yöntemiyle seçilen toplam 283 öğrenci katılmıştır. Veri analizi için yapısal eşitlik modellemesi (YEM) kullanılmıştır. YEM analizi sonuçları, siber duygusal becerilerin, dijital okuryazarlık üzerinde anlamlı bir etkiye sahip olduğunu ortaya koymuştur. Bu bulgular, daha güçlü siber-duygusal becerilere sahip olanların dijital okuryazarlıkta başarılı olmak için daha donanımlı olduğunu göstermektedir. Ayrıca görülmektedir ki, bireylerin dijital bir ortamda duyguları ve duygularla ilgili bilgileri ne kadar etkili bir şekilde ele alabildiğine dair kapsamlı bir kavrayış, dijital dünyaya ilişkin farkındalıklarını ve dijital görevleri yerine getirmedeki yetkinliklerini büyük ölçüde şekillendirmektedir. Bu durum, çevrim içi dünyada başarılı olmanın anlamını yeniden tanımlamakta ve dijital eğitim stratejilerinin geliştirilmesinde duygusal becerilerin önemini vurgulamaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Siber Duygusal Beceriler
• Dijital Okuryazarlık
• E-Motions
• Yükseköğretim
• Yapısal Eşitlik Modellemesi

Kaynakça

1. Alpian, Y., Sumantri, M. S., Yufiarti, Y., & Wulan Anggraeni, S. (2023). Self-concept and emotional intelligence in relation with digital literacy. Journal of Nonformal Education, 9(1), 47–57. https://doi.org/10.15294/jne.v9i1.42098
2. Alemdar, M., & Yiğiter, M. S. (2025). Assessing cyber-emotional skills in the digital age: the Turkish adaptation and measure invariance of the e-motions scale. HAYEF: Journal of Education, 22, 0036. doi:10.5152/hayef.2025.24036
3. Armstrong‐Carter, E., & Telzer, E. H. (2021). Advancing measurement and research on youths’ prosocial behavior in the digital age. Child Development Perspectives, 15(1), 31-36.
4. Audrin, C. & Audrin, B. (2023) More than just emotional intelligence online: Introducing “digital emotional intelligence”. Front. Psychol, 14(1154355). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1154355
5. Bennett, S., Maton, K., & Kervin, L. (2008). The ‘digital natives’ debate: A critical review of the evidence. British Journal of Educational Technology, 39(5), 775-786. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2007.00793.x
6. Bensky, T., & Fisher, E. (Eds.). (2014). Internet and emotions (Vol. 22). New York: Routledge.
7. Bottaro, R., & Faraci, P. (2022). The use of social networking sites and its impact on adolescents’ emotional well-being: A scoping review. Current Addiction Reports, 9(4), 518-539. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40429-022-00445-4
8. Bower, G. H. (1981). Mood and memory. American Psychologist, 36(2), 129–148.

9. Brown, T.A. (2006). Confirmatory factor analysis for applied research. Guilford Press.
10. Bryman, A. (2016). Social research methods. Oxford University Press.
11. Burns, T., & Gottschalk, F. (2019). Educating 21st century children: Emotional well-being in the digital age. Educational research and innovation. OECD Publishing: Paris.
12. Byrne, B. M. (2011). Structural equation modeling with AMOS Basic concepts, applications, and programming (Multivariate Applications Series). Routledge.
13. Caplan, S. E. (2003). Preference for online social interaction: A theory of problematic internet use and psychosocial wellbeing. Communication Research, 30, 625–648. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650203257842
14. Cebollero-Salinas, A., Cano-Escoriaza, J., & Orejudo, S. (2022). Social Networks, emotions, and education: Design and validation of e-com, a scale of socio-emotional interaction competencies among adolescents. Sustainability, 14, 2566. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14052566
15. Chen, Y. A., & Fan, T. (2024). Adolescents' mental health, problematic internet use, and their parents' rules on internet use: A latent profile analysis. Computers in Human Behavior, 156, 108232.
16. Choi, D., & Kim, J. (2004). Cyberpsychology & behavior: The impact of the Internet, multimedia and virtual reality on behavior and society. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 7, 11-24.
17. Common Sense Media (2009). Digital literacy and citizenship in the 21st century educating, empowering, and protecting america’s kids. https://www.itu.int/council/groups/wg-cop/second-meeting- june-2010/CommonSenseDigitalLiteracy-CitizenshipWhitePaper.pdf
18. Derks, D., Fischer, A. H., & Bos, A. E. R. (2008). The role of emotion in computer mediated communication: A review. Computers in Human Behavior, 24(3), 766–785. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2007.04.004
19. Erdat, Y., Ceren, R. E. S., Ozdemir, L., Uslu-Sahan, F., & Bilgin, A. (2023). Influence of technical, cognitive and socio-emotional factors on digital literacy in nursing students assessed using structural equation modeling. Nurse Education Today, 130, 105937. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2023.105937
20. Forero, C. G., Maydeu-Olivares, A. ve Gallardo-Pujol, D. (2009). Factor analysis with ordinal indicators: A Monte Carlo study comparing DWLS and ULS estimation. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 16(4), 625–641. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705510903203573
21. Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56(3), 218–226.
22. Gilster, P. (1997). Digital literacy. Wiley.
23. Gutiérrez-Ángel, N., Sánchez-García, J.-N., Mercader-Rubio, I., García-Martín, J., & Brito-Costa, S. (2022). Digital literacy in the university setting: A literature review of empirical studies between 2010 and 2021. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.896800
24. Halberstadt, A. G., Denham, S. A., & Dunsmore, J. C. (2001). Affective social competence. Social Development, 10(1), 79-119.
25. Ibrahim, R. K., Al Sabbah, S., Al-Jarrah, M., Senior, J., Almomani, J. A., Darwish, A., Albannay, F., & Al Naimat, A. (2024). The mediating effect of digital literacy and self-regulation on the relationship between emotional intelligence and academic stress among university students: A cross-sectional study. BMC Medical Education, 24(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-06279-0
26. Kappas A. (2016). The psychology of Cyber (Emotions). In Cyberemotions (J. Holyst, Ed.). Springer.
27. Kline, R. B. (2015). Convergence of structural equation modeling and multilevel modeling. In The SAGE Handbook of Innovation in Social Research Methods, edited by M. Williams and W. P. Vogt, 562–589. SAGE Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446268261.
28. Kline, R. B. (2011). Convergence of structural equation modeling and multilevel modeling. In The SAGE Handbook of Innovation in Social Research Methods, edited by M. Williams and W. P. Vogt, 562–589. SAGE Publications. doi:10.4135/9781446268261.
29. Koğar, H. & Yilmaz Koğar, E. (2015). Comparison of different estimation methods for categorical and ordinal data in confirmatory factor analysis. Egitimde ve Psikolojide Ölcme ve Degerlendirme Dergisi, 6(2). https://doi.org/10.21031/epod.94857
30. Kraut, R., Kiesler, S., Boneva, B., Cummings, J., Helgeson, V., & Crawford, A. (2002). Internet paradox revisited. Journal of Social Issues, 58(1), 49-74. https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-4560.00248
31. Lincenberg, J. (2021). Emotional self-awareness as a digital literacy BT - The 2020. In Cowls, J. and Morley, J. (eds), Yearbook of the digital ethics lab (pp. 23–34). Springer International Publishing. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80083-3_3.
32. Livingstone, S., Mascheroni, G., & Stoilova, M. (2023). The outcomes of gaining digital skills for young people’s lives and wellbeing: A systematic evidence review. New Media & Society, 25(5), 1176-1202. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448211043189
33. Mayer, J. D., & Salovey, P. (1993). The intelligence of emotional intelligence. Intelligence, 17(4), 433-442. https://doi.org/10.1016/0160-2896(93)90010-3
34. Ministry of National Education (MoNE, 2024). Türkiye century education model, common framework for the curricula. Ankara
35. Ng, W. (2012a). Can we teach digital natives digital literacy? Computers & Education, 59(3), 1065–1078. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.COMPEDU.2012.04.016
36. Ng, W. (2012b). Empowering scientific literacy through digital literacy and multi literacies. Nova Science Publishers.
37. Pekrun, R. (2006). The control-value theory of achievement emotions: Assumptions, corollaries, and implications for educational research and practice. Educational Psychology Review, 18(4), 315–341.
38. Porat, E., Blau, I., & Barak, A. (2018). Measuring digital literacies: Junior high-school students’ perceived competencies versus actual performance. Computers & Education, 126, 23–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2018.06.030
39. Putra, R. P., Nuryantini, A. Y., Pitriana, P. & Agustina, R. D. (2023). Correlation between digital literacy and emotional intelligence on understanding viscosity stoke's method aided by vlab amrita olabs. Journal of Teaching and Learning Physics, 8(1), 1-7. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15575/jotalp.v8i1.16426
40. Rega, V., Gioia, F., & Boursier, V. (2023). Problematic media use among children up to the age of 10: a systematic literature review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(10), 5854.
41. Reich, S. M. (2017). Connecting offline social competence to online peer interactions. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 6(4), 291. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/ppm0000111
42. Schumacker, R.E., & Lomax, R. G. (2004). A beginner's guide to structural equation modeling: Fourth edition (2nd ed.). Psychology Press. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410610904
43. Secker, J. (2017). The trouble with terminology: Rehabilitating and rethinking ‘digital literacy’. In K. Reedy & J. Parker (Eds.), Digital literacy unpacked (pp. 3−16). Facet Publishing. https://doi.org/10.29085/9781783301997.003
44. Silber-Varod, V., Eshet-Alkalai, Y., & Geri, N. (2019). Tracing research trends of 21st‐century learning skills. British Journal of Educational Technology: Journal of the Council for Educational Technology, 50(6), 3099–3118. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12753
45. Steiner, C. M. (1979). Healing alcoholism. Grove
46. Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2013). Using multivariate statistics (Sixth edition). Pearson Education.
47. Üstündağ, M. T., Güneş, E., & Bahçivan, E. (2017). Dijital okuryazarlık ölçeğinin Türkçeye uyarlanması ve fen bilgisi öğretmen adaylarının dijital okuryazarlık durumları. Journal of Education and Future, 12, 19-29.
48. Valkenburg, P. M., Koutamanis, M., & Vossen, H. G. M. (2017). The concurrent and longitudinal relationships between adolescents’ use of social network sites and their social self-esteem. Computers in Human Behavior, 76, 35–41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.07.008
49. Von Scheve, C., & Salmella, M. (Eds.). (2014). Collective emotions: Perspectives from psychology, philosophy, and sociology. OUP Oxford.
50. Weare, K. (2004). Developing the emotionally literate school. Developing the Emotionally Literate School, 1-240.
51. Zych, I., Ortega-Ruiz, R., & Marín-López, I. (2017). Emotional content in cyberspace: Development and validation of E-motions Questionnaire in adolescents and young people. Psicothema, 29, 563–569. https://doi.org/10.7334/psicothema2016.340