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NBER Working Papers · September 28, 2026 · On the brief until October 12, 2026

(How) Do We Teach Emotions? -- by Anjali Adukia, Matthew Bonci, Paula Dastres Gallardo, Emileigh Harrison, Jake Nicoll, Teodora Szasz

EconomicsCurriculum & InstructionEducation
THE AI ANGLE
Measuring emotional content in textbook text and images

Researchers used machine learning and generative AI to study emotional content across children's literature and textbooks. Written passages present a wide range of feelings, but accompanying illustrations overwhelmingly display calm and happy expressions. These findings demonstrate that market demand biases educational imagery toward positive emotions regardless of the text.

Summary written by AI Business Lens with an AI model from the article at nber.org. It is not the article, and the publisher has not reviewed it. For publishers.

THE TEACHING ANGLE
Market forces push publishers toward cheerful illustrations even when accompanying lessons describe difficult emotions.

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