Assessing emotional intelligence: academic performance & overall personality development.

AuthorDevi, S. Anitha

Introduction

Emotional Intelligence is now being recognized as an important differentiator in the workplace with regard to personal and organizational success. Emotional Intelligence (EI), often measured as an Emotional Intelligence Quotient (EQ), describes the ability, capacity, or skill to perceive, assess, and manage the emotions of one's self, of others, and of groups. It is a relatively new area of psychological research. The definition of EI is constantly changing. Researchers observed that emotions always work together with cognition and motivation to help the person act appropriately in relation to the social context, or self-regulate. An acceptable definition of emotion is that it is an organized mental response to an event that includes physiological, experiential, and cognitive aspects among others, for which context of relationship, within which expression of emotional intelligence takes place, is important (Lazarus, 1991). Mayer and Salovey (1997) have defined emotional intelligence as "the ability to regulate emotions and intellectual growth".

Just because someone is deemed 'intellectually' intelligent, it does not necessarily follow they are emotionally intelligent. Having a good memory, or good problem solving abilities, does not mean one is capable of dealing with emotions or motivating oneself. Highly intelligent people may lack the social skills that are associated with high emotional intelligence. Savants, who show incredible intellectual abilities in narrow fields, are an extreme example of this: a mathematical genius may be unable to relate to people socially. However,

Emotional intelligence is the capacity to create positive outcomes in one's relationships with others and with oneself. Positive outcomes include joy, optimism, and success in work, school, and life. Today, the rules of the workplace are rapidly changing; a new yardstick is being used to judge people. It is often said that a high IQ may assure you a top position, but it may not make you a top person. This does not measure how smart you are or what your academic qualifications are or even what your expertise is. Instead, it measures how well you are able to handle yourself and others. This yardstick is increasingly applied in deciding who will be hired and who will not, who will be dismissed and who will be retained, who will be ignored and who will be promoted. These new rules predict who is most likely to be successful and who is most likely to fail. Regardless of the field you are currently working in, you are being judged for emotional traits that are crucial to your marketability for future jobs or new assignments. Possibly, em-ployees of large organizations may be evaluated in terms of such abilities, even though they may not be aware of it. If you are applying for a job, you are likely to be assessed in terms of these emotional abilities, though no one will tell you so explicitly.

Whatever the job, understanding how to cultivate these abilities is essential for a successful career. These emotional traits have little to do with what you were told was important in school, college or other institutions; academic abilities are largely irrelevant to these new standards. Today, it is taken for granted that you have adequate IQ that is, the intellectual ability and the technical know-how to do your job. The focus, instead, is on your EQ:-personal qualities such as initiative, empathy, motivation and leadership. The purpose of this study is to see whether there is a relationship between emotional intelligence, personality development and academic success of post graduate students.

Review of Literature

In academic articles authorized by John. D. Mayer and Peter Salovey the term Emotional Intelligence appeared in a series in 1990, 1993, 1995. Daniel Goleman (1995) has given the mainstream of Emotional Intelligence in the year 1995. He argues in his book that IQ con tributes only about 20% to success in life, and other forces contribute the rest. We can infer that Emotional Intelligence, luck and social class are among those other factors. In 1996, Reuven Bar-on explained Emotional Intelligence as our ability to deal successfully with other people and with our feelings. Finnegan (1998) argues that schools should help students learn the abilities underlying emotional intelligence. Possessing those abilities or even some of them "can lead to achievement from the formal education years of the child and adolescent to the adult's competency in being effective in the workplace and in society". Goleman (1995) suggested that EI can predict academic success better than traditional measures of intelligence. However, Zeidner, et al. (2002) correctly pointed out that there has been insufficient research conducted to fully understand the impact that EI may (or may not) have on academic success. Most students who do not complete college withdraw from the university within their first two years (Parker et. al, 2006). Lauer and Evans (1930) were among the first researchers to suggest that Emotional Stability may be related to academic success. For example, Ridgell and Lounsbury (2002) found that emotional stability accounted for 29% of the variance in college freshmen GPA. Chamorro-Premuzic and Furnham (2003) also observed a positive correlation between academic success and Emotional Stability. Studies by Mayer, Caruso, and Salovey (1999), and more recently Mandell and Pherwani (2003) have found that women are more likely to score higher on measures of EI than men, both in professional and personal settings. Petrides et al. (2004) examined the role of trait EI on academic performance (as measured by GPA) in individuals with low IQ relative to individuals with high IQ. Wagerman and Funder (2007) found that Conscientiousness was able to successfully predict GPA among college seniors above and beyond the more traditional measures associated with academic achievement

Objectives & Methodology

The major objectives of the present study are as follows:

* To measure the overall Emotional Intelligence level of post graduate (PG) students

* To make a comparative study of Emotional Intelligence scores of PG students belonging to eight different streams i.e. Physical Sciences (Maths, Physics and Chemistry), Biological Sciences (Botany & Zoology, Microbiology and Biotechnology), Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Master of Computer Applications (MCA).

* To correlate the Emotional Intelligence of post graduate students based upon their Age, Gender, Personality Development and Academic Success.

* To define Emotional Intelligence dimensions through Factor Analytic approach.

Sample

The population for the study consisted of all post graduate students belonging to 8 different streams i.e., Physical Sciences (Maths, Physics and Chemistry), Biological Sciences (Botany&Zoology, Microbiology & Biotechnology), Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Master of Computer Applications (MCA) in Krishna, Guntur & Prakasham districts of Andhra Pradesh. The sample was selected...

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