The purpose of this study was to develop a rational-emotive education (REE) program for junior high school students and to investigate its effects on students´ rational thinking, emotional stability and self-esteem. The effects of sex and intelligence were also investigated. In the pilot study, a program of cognitive emotional educationn based on the principles of Rational-Emotive Psychotherapy was developed and participated by 82 8th grade students for eight or fourteen 50-minute sessions. In the experimental study, the subjects consisted of 380 8th graders from eight classes in a junior high school. The experimental group (EG) and control group (CG) were composed of 4 classes respectively. In a period of six weeks, the EG received the REE, while the CG received a general mental health program. Both had ten 50-minute sessions. In order to determine the effects of REE, all subjects were pre and post tested with the Rational Belief Test (RBT), a measure of content acquisition, the Personal Belief Scale (PBS), a measure of irrational ideas, the Emotional Stability Scale (ESS) and the Self Attitude Scale (SAS), a measure of self-esteem. The data obtained from this study were analyzed through the analysis of variance and the analysis of covariance. The results of the study were summarized as follows: 1. The program of REE increased students´ rational thinking. (1) Students who received the REE scored significantly lower on the measure of content acquistion than those in the control group. (2) Students who received the REE scored significantly lower on the measure of irrational ideas than those in the control group. 2. The REE program promoted students´ emotional stability. 3. There was no significant effect of the REE on self-esteem. 4. There was no significant sex difference on all dependent variables. 5. It appeared that the effects of the REE on rational ideas and emotional stability were more salient for higher intelligence group than for lower intelligence group. It was concluded that Rational-Emotive Education can increase students´ rational thinking and emotional stability, this was especially true for higher intelligence students. The implications of this study in both education and further research in the field were discussed at the final.