Emotional competence: The missing piece in school curricula? A systematic analysis in the German education system

•Emotional competence is recognized as critical for flourishing human development.•The mixed-methods study assesses emotional competencies in German school curricula.•Around 40% of curricula do not aim at fostering emotional competencies at all.•Newer curricula do not focus more strongly on emotional competence than older ones.•Degree of socio-emotional learning in German curricula is evaluated as insufficient.