Emotionally intelligent students are more engaged and successful: Examining the role of emotional intelligence in higher education

Emotionally intelligent students are more engaged and successful: Examining the role of emotional intelligence in higher education

• Zhoc, Ching Hsiang Karen The Education University of Hong Kong
• King, Ronnel Bornasal The Education University of Hong Kong
• Chung, Tony S. H. Census and Statistics Department, The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
• Chen, Junjun The Education University of Hong Kong

European Journal of Psychology of Education, 2020

Springer Netherlands

2020

• E Special Education
  • ED Education for Students with Behavioural Problem

Emotional Intelligence Student Engagement Academic Performance Student Success Higher Education Generic Outcomes

• Hong Kong

• 1997.7 onwards

• Post-Secondary Education

The role of emotions in student engagement has been examined in many studies. However, little is known about how emotional intelligence (EI) is related to engagement and other key learning outcomes in higher education. To fill this gap, this study examined how EI is associated with student engagement and how EI and engagement jointly predict key learning outcomes in higher education, including the students’ GPA, generic outcomes, and satisfaction with the university experience. The study adopted a prospective longitudinal design involving 560 first-year students from 10 faculties of a university in Hong Kong. The data were collected at two-time points, namely before the start and after the end of the students’ first year in the university. Structural equation modeling was employed to test the measurement and hypothesized models. Results indicated that EI positively predicted all dimensions of student engagement and promoted key learning outcomes (including GPA, generic learning outcomes, and students’ satisfaction with the university) via the different dimensions of student engagement. The model also explained 16%, 44%, and 38% of the students’ GPA, generic learning outcomes, and satisfaction with their university experience, respectively. This study provides empirical evidence on the positive effect of EI on the students’ optimal functioning in the higher education context. Implications of the findings are discussed. Copyright © 2020 Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada, Lisboa and Springer Nature B.V.

• English

Journal Articles

• 02562928

• 10.1007/s10212-019-00458-0

https://bibliography.lib.eduhk.hk/en/bibs/c315072c

2020-05-18