Relationship between emotional intelligence and students' academic achievement

Abstract

The following research investigated the relation between Emotional Intelligence and academic achievement in sixth graders. The participants were selected from an Anglophone Catholic school having around 3000 students in the Metn area, Lebanon. The participants were divided into two groups based on a convenience sample selection. The convenience sample of sixty six students, male and female, age grouped between eleven and twelve was selected from a population of two hundred sixth graders. The two groups were selected based on their academic results, 6A high achievers and 6D low achievers. The second sample was five key administrators in the participating school. In order to measure Emotional Intelligence (EI) of the two participating groups, the 30-item Furnham Short Form Teaching Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIque) was administrated; it measured five EI factors: 1- Emotionality, 2- Well-being, 3- Sociability, 4- Self-Control, and 5- General Traits. An 11- item questionnaire was developed to study key administrators awareness of EI. The third instrument was the report card of the two participating sections; the average of all grades collected over two terms, three months each. The data collected were studied quantitatively for two participating sections and qualitatively for the participating key administrators. The correlation between EI and academic scores was calculated using the Pearson r. The correlation between EI and academic scores for the 6A participating section, high achievers was r=0.4, and 6D low achievers r=0.1. A positive correlation was revealed. The purpose of the study was served, and showed the need for teaching Emotional intelligence in schools to improve the quality of academic performance.