A Study of Emotional Intelligence and its effect on Academic

Performance of Management Students

Swati Sachdeva
(2K19/DMBA/101)

Abstract

Emotional Intelligence (EI) is one of must-have skills and capabilities which are required by
leaders and followers at workplace today to encounter the various changes occurring in the
organisations. Emotional intelligence (EI) has been a popular topic in the field of
organizational behaviour. Research shows that emotional intelligence successfully predicts job
performance and leadership skills. Based on these reasons, this study attempts to evaluate the
impact of emotional intelligence on academic performance of management students. This study
measures emotional intelligence by employing Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire
Short Form (TEIQue SF) and academic performance through cumulative grade point average
(CGPA). Emotional Intelligence is defined as the ability to perceive, integrate, understand, and
manage emotions. It may influence appraisals of stressful tasks and subsequent task
performance. This study examines the relationship between emotional intelligence and
academic performance. The aim of this paper is to examine the relationships among students’
emotional intelligence and their academic performance in the university. It is predicted and that
students’ emotional intelligence is positively associated with their academic performance.

Introduction
Emotional intelligence, introduced in scientific research conducted by psychologists soon
emerged as one of the most popular topics among management practitioners, perhaps due to
the claims of how emotional intelligence could be used to explain individual work success
Emotional intelligence has been controversial among academics, however, largely because
scientific results have been inconsistent, especially with respect to the important relationship
between emotional intelligence and job performance. In the globalization world, individual are
paying attention for identifying emotional intelligence as an important aspect for the employee
performance in the organization. Employees in the organization will be impacted by their
emotions. Emotional intelligence (EI) of a person will closely relate to the work efficiency of
an employee. Positivity related to employees’ performance needs self-awareness, self-
management, social awareness and relationship management. In every aspect of personal and
professional life of an employee, emotional intelligence plays a crucial role. Emotional
intelligence is closely involved in the corporate world right from the recruitment stage to the
promotion stage. Hence, for having winning outcomes from the employees a well-managed
emotion will plays a key role. As well, if the emotions are managed carefully it can drive trust,
loyalty and commitment and also can increase efficiency, innovation and achievement in the
individual team and with the organizational environment. To ensure success of an employee
EI plays a prominent role and it should be nurtured and practiced by all the levels of employees
in the organization while facing the challenges for a competitive business advantage. Emotional
intelligence is conceptualized as a multidimensional concept. Emotional intelligence improves
the performance of an employee by letting them foster positive relations, perform well in
groups and build social status. The current studies on EI establishes the relationship between
emotional factors and employee performance. The studies identify that, emotional intelligence
has direct impact on job performance. This study focusses on the relationship between
Emotional Intelligence and job performance of an employee.

Significance of the Study

The awareness of emotional intelligence is an important job skill. The importance of emotional
intelligence is emphasized because human relations and work performance in organizations are
affected by emotional factors more than by rational factors. Studies revealed that, the
employee’s work commitment and performance become stumpy now days because of lack of
emotional intelligence. The performance of organizations is declining due to the declined
performance of its employees, which is determined by the state of emotional balance. The
higher education institutions are responsible to develop knowledge and skills in students but
organizations often criticize that the students are not prepared to handle their job duties and the
type of roles they have to exhibit in an organization (Clark et al., 2003). In today‟s cut throat
competition, producing the brightest experts only is not enough. Universities should also focus
on developing the entire personality of the student which includes intellectual, emotional and
social skills which will help graduates in their future endeavors (Seal, et al., 2011). Emotional
intelligence has got more significance for a person in reaching his/her goals than general
intelligence (Joshi et al., 2012). Each emotion features a motivating characteristic, a
private meaning, and an expression reflected in behaviours. So, the handling of emotions shows
greater impact on employee performance. Keeping in view, the above, present study was
undertaken to give suggestions for better explore of emotions for the improvement of
performance of the employees.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Emotional intelligence (EI) can play a significant role in today’s dynamic work
environment (Wong, & Song, 2004). The word ‘emotion’ is derived from the Latin word
“motere” which means ‘to move’. When “e” prefix is added to this word, it means ‘to
move away’. It refers that each emotion is turned into a movement (Goleman 2013, 32).
According to Daniel Goleman, emotion is referred as “the tendency of a feeling and certain
specific thought of this feeling, and psychological and biological states, and a series of
movements” (Goleman 2013, 373). Firstly, the word ‘emotional intelligence’ was defined
by Dr. Peter Salovey from Yale University and Dr. John D. Mayer from New Hampshire
University in 1990. According to these authors, the emotional intelligence is
understanding of one’s own and others' feelings, emotions, the feature of control, and the
emotional reasoning ability. Concept of emotional intelligence has been used to describe
the emotional attributes such as "empathizing, expression and comprehension of emotions,
controlling temperament, ability to adapt, admiration, solving interpersonal problems,
persistence, compassion, and respect” (Yesilyaprak 2001,140). A lot of researchers
accentuate that employees’ emotional intelligence can predict work related outcomes, such
as job satisfaction and job performance (Prati et al., 2003). Not only this, theorists have
also hypothesized that managers’ emotional intelligence can also impact these work
outcomes (Goleman et al., 2002).

Existing emotional intelligence research has examined the relationship between

employees' emotional intelligence and their job performance. As such, the goals of this
study are to examine the impact of employees’ EI on job performance and extend this line
of research to the domain of leader–employee relationships and examine how leaders’/
managers’ EI influences subordinate/employees’ task performance. It has been widely
hypothesised that individuals who have a high level of Emotional Intelligence (EI) are
expected to accomplish higher levels of achievements both in their personal life and their
work place (Bar-on et al., 2006) and that they contribute significantly to the performance
of the organizations within which they work (Carmeli & Josman, 2006).
The purpose of this review of the literature is to demonstrate that many researchers have
empirically supported the claims that emotional intelligence effects both i ndividual work
performance and individual advancement. Various researches have suggested that some
people are more successful in their careers than others even when they have had equal
educational and experiential opportunities (Stuller, 1997). Bar-On (2000) defines
emotional intelligence as worrying with effectively understanding oneself et al. , relating
well to people, and adapting to and dealing with the immediate surroundings to be more
successful in dealing with environmental demands.

The study of various researches also reveals a puzzling set of contradictory results
(Dulewicz & Higgs, 2000). While some studies have supported a positive relationship
between emotional intelligence and employees' job performance, many other studies have
not. For example, Slaski and Cartwright (2002) found that emotional intelligence
positively related to supervisors' ratings of employees' job performance. Likewise, other
researchers established that emotional intelligence explained performance in diverse
employees, such as salespeople, scientists (Law, Wong,Huang, & Li, 2008; Law, Wong,
& Song, 2004), and academics (Jordan, Ashkanasy, Hartel, & Hooper, 2002; Lam & Kirby,
2002;Sue-Chan & Latham, 2004). However, several other studies failed to find any
substantial relationship between emotional intelligence and self or supervisor's rating of
job performance (Austin, 2004). Goleman’s work has been most significant in this field
and it establishes that EI has been popularised as a learned skill that is a better predictor
of life success than intellectual attainment or technical ability (Goleman, 1995). This has
led to the belief that EI may also be a better predictor of work and career success and
although both intelligence quotient (IQ) and emotional quotient (EQ) have a ro le to play
in influencing individual performance Goleman has asserted the extraordinary claim that
80% of superior performance can be attributed to EI and not IQ in top line leaders
(Goleman, 1998). These claims have led to much speculation in the evolving worlds of
business and research about the degree to which these factors influence individual job
performance and career progression and hence need empirical support. Employees could
use both positive and negative emotions to their advantage to improve performance. For
example, positive emotions, such as excitement or enthusiasm, could stimulate employees
to provide better customer service, complete their work assignments, or contribute to the
organization. Conversely, negative emotions, like anxiety, could facilitate employees’
ability to specialise in their work tasks. Employees with high emotional intelligence
should be better at regulating their own emotions and managing others’ emotions to foster
more positive interactions, which could lead on to more organizational citizenship
behaviours that contribute to performance (Wong & Law, 2002). Emotional
intelligence may be a set of competencies where personal competence and social
competence plays a really important role in directing and controlling one's feelings and
efficiency towards work. These competencies are the major factors and allows employee
to control and manage his/her moods and impulses on the job. To understand one's
emotions and feelings as they occur, and tuning one's self to the changed situation, requires
the emotional competency, emotional maturity and emotional sensitivity that are
demanded on the job. In a work situation, performance of the workers depends on working
with group of individuals with different ideas, suggestions, and opinions. Effective use of
emotional intelligence gives better team harmony. Leaders, especially, need high
emotional intelligence, because they represent the organization to the customers, they
interact with the very best number of individuals within and out of doors the organization
and they set the tone for employee morale. Leaders with high emotional intelligence
are ready to understand their employee’s needs and supply them with constructive
feedback.

Although in the literature review it is generally found support for the importance of EI to
leadership, but there is no significant research is established yet which supports that
emotionally intelligent leaders can increase the job performance of their followers/
subordinates. Some studies have also found that emotionally intelligent leaders are more
effective in a variety of ways (Ashkanasy & Daus, 2002; Ashkanasy & Humphrey, 2011a,
2011b; Boyatzis et al., 2011; George, 2000; Walter & Bruch, 2009). A review of the literature
concluded that leaders’ EI was positively related to leadership emergence, the performance of
effective leadership behaviours (such as transformational leadership), and to overall leadership
effectiveness (Walter et al., 2011).

Objectives of Study

• To study the basic elements of the emotional intelligence for the improvement of academic
success.
• To study the impact of emotional intelligence academic performance of management
students in India.
 Methodology
Method

The description of method is presented below:

Sampling Method

For this study convenience sampling was employed. The focus of this research was on the
management students.

Measures

For this study, it was appropriate to use survey method employing a questionnaire. The
following measures were employed for developing the questionnaire.

Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Short Form (TEIQue-SF)

A thirty-item questionnaire developed by Petrides (2006) was employed to measure Trait

Emotional Intelligence. This questionnaire measures EIon four dimensions, i.e. well-being,
sociability, emotionality, and self-control (Shipley, et al., 2010; Smith et al., 2008). It has been
demonstrated that Trait emotional intelligence questionnaire is a better indicator of emotional
intelligence that the ability measure (Gardner & Qualter, 2010).

Academic Performance

To evaluate how the business students, perform academically, their cumulative grade point
average (CGPA) was recorded.

Hypotheses

The primary purpose of the study was to examine trait emotional intelligence and how it
relates to academic performance. In the light of the literature cited above the hypothesis are
as follows:

H1: There is a positive relationship between trait emotional intelligence and academic
performance.

H2: There is a difference in the level of trait emotional intelligence between students
having high CGPA‟s and students having Low CGPA‟s.

Emotional Intelligence and Academic Performance

Studies have shown that emotional intelligence influences success in academic and
professional studies and contributes to performance over and above the contribution by general
intelligence (Romanelli et al., 2006). Students who are emotionally intelligent are perceived by
their peers and colleagues as friendly and non-antagonistic (Brackett et al., 2011). This
improves the relationship between peers and helps in the intellectual development which leads
to superior academic performance (Berndt, 1999; Ford & Smith, 2007; Schutte et al., 2001).
Emotional intelligence helps in prioritizing thinking, behavior, and lifestyle which aids in
academic performance.

academic year by students can predict their GPA in the final year (Schutte, et al., 2001). Trait
emotional intelligence moderates the relation between academic performance and cognitive
ability (Petrides, et al., 2004). A study by O‟Connor & Little (2003) demonstrates that
emotional intelligence measured through GPA by utilizing self-report and ability measure of
EI was not a strong indicator of academic achievement. In another study, it was found that the
correlation between emotional intelligence and academic achievement was not statistically
significant (Bastian et al., 2005). Due to the mixed nature of research literature there is a need
to explore the relationship between emotional intelligence and academic performance in the
particular context of India.

(TO BE CONTINUED WITH DATA AND ANALYSIS)

 TEIQue-SF- Questionnaire
Instructions: Please answer each statement below by putting a circle around the number that best reflects your
degree of agreement or disagreement with that statement. Do not think too long about the exact meaning of the
statements. Work quickly and try to answer as accurately as possible. There are no right or wrong answers. There
are seven possible responses to each statement ranging from ‘Completely Disagree’ (number 1) to ‘Completely
Agree’ (number 7).

1.........2..........3..........4..........5..........6..........7
Completely Completely
Disagree Agree

1. Expressing my emotions with words is not a problem for me. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

2. I often find it difficult to see things from another person’s 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
viewpoint.
3. On the whole, I’m a highly motivated person. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
4. I usually find it difficult to regulate my emotions. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
5. I generally don’t find life enjoyable. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
6. I can deal effectively with people. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
7. I tend to change my mind frequently. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8. Many times, I can’t figure out what emotion I'm feeling. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
9. I feel that I have a number of good qualities. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
10. I often find it difficult to stand up for my rights. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
11. I’m usually able to influence the way other people feel. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
12. On the whole, I have a gloomy perspective on most things. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
13. Those close to me often complain that I don’t treat them right. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
14. I often find it difficult to adjust my life according to the 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
circumstances.
15. On the whole, I’m able to deal with stress. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
16. I often find it difficult to show my affection to those close to 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
me.
17. I’m normally able to “get into someone’s shoes” and 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
experience their emotions.
18. I normally find it difficult to keep myself motivated. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
19. I’m usually able to find ways to control my emotions when I 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
want to.
20. On the whole, I’m pleased with my life. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
21. I would describe myself as a good negotiator. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
22. I tend to get involved in things I later wish I could get out of. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
23. I often pause and think about my feelings. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
24. I believe I’m full of personal strengths. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
25. I tend to “back down” even if I know I’m right. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
26. I don’t seem to have any power at all over other people’s 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
feelings.
27. I generally believe that things will work out fine in my life. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
28. I find it difficult to bond well even with those close to me. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
29. Generally, I’m able to adapt to new environments. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
30. Others admire me for being relaxed. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire – Short Form (TEIQue-SF). This 30-item form
includes two items from each of the 15 facets of the TEIQue. Items were selected primarily
on the basis of their correlations with the corresponding total facet scores, which ensured
broad coverage of the sampling domain of the construct. The –SF can be used in research
designs with limited experimental time or wherein trait EI is a peripheral variable. Although
it is possible to derive from it scores on the four trait EI factors, in addition to the global
score, these tend to have somewhat lower internal consistencies than in the full form of the
inventory. The –SF does not yield scores on the 15 trait EI facets.

Reference for the TEIQue-SF: Petrides, K. V. (2009). Psychometric properties of the Trait Emotional
Intelligence Questionnaire. In C. Stough, D. H. Saklofske, and J. D. Parker, Advances in the assessment of
emotional intelligence. New York: Springer. DOI: 10.1007/978-0-387-88370-0_5
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Research Papers Read: (Excel File Attached for Summary of these papers)

1. A comparative Study of the Relation between Emotional Intelligence and Employee's

Performance by Ali Akbar Behbahani - © 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

2. Manager emotional intelligence and project success: The mediating role of job
satisfaction and trust by Azadeh Rezvani, Artemis Chang , Anna Wiewiora , Neal M.
Ashkanasy ,Peter J. Jordan c, Roxanne Zolin - © 2016 International Journal of Project
Management 34 (2016) 1112–1122

3. The relationship between emotional intelligence, frontline employee adaptability, job

satisfaction and job performance by: Michael Sony, Nandakumar Mekoth - © 2015
Published by Elsevier Ltd.

4. The Relationship between Emotional Intelligence of Managers, Innovative Corporate

Culture and Employee Performance by Erkut Altındağa ,Yeliz Kösedağıa – presented
at 4th International Conference on Leadership, Technology, Innovation and Business
Management.

5. The Relationship between Leader’s Emotional Intelligence and Employee Creativity:

A Conceptual Framework of Mechanism by Ragini Gupta, Badri Bajaj - © 2017 The
Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

6. Relation of employee and manager emotional intelligence to job satisfaction and

performance by Thomas Sy, Susanna Tram, Linda A. O’Hara – published at Journal of
Vocational Behaviour 68 (2006) 461–473.

7. Emotional Intelligence of Managers by Minarova Martinaa, Mala Denisaa,

Sedliacikova Marianab- presented at 4th World Conference on Business, Economics
and Management, WCBEM.
8. Leadership and emotional intelligence: the effect on performance and attitude by Ioan
Pastora, - © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

9. A study on role of emotional intelligence on employee performance by K.N. Lakshmi

and K.S. Sekhar Rao - © IAEME Publication - International Journal of Civil
Engineering and Technology (IJCIET) Volume 9, Issue 3, March 2018.

10. Effect of emotional intelligence on employee performance by Dr. Srinivas Bandi and
Ms. Neerupa Chauhan - ISBR Management Journal, Volume 1, Issue 4, May, 2019.