Emotionally intelligent students are more engaged and successful: examining the role of emotional intelligence in higher
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Emotionally intelligent students are more engaged and successful: examining the role of emotional intelligence in higher education Karen C. H. Zhoc 1
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& Ronnel B. King & Tony S. H. Chung & Junjun Chen
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Received: 6 August 2019 / Revised: 13 November 2019 / Accepted: 22 December 2019 # Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada, Lisboa and Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract
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. Keywords Emotional intelligence . Student engagement . Academic performance . Student success . Higher education . Generic outcomes Students experience a diverse range of emotions during their learning in higher education, such as interest and enjoyment of learning, anxiety, anger, shame, and boredom, all of which have powerful effects on student engagement and learning outcomes (D'Mello and Graesser 2012; Tulis and Fulmer 2013). Students who experience negative emotions (e.g., frustration or
* Karen C. H. Zhoc [email protected] Extended author information available on the last page of the article
K. C. H. Zhoc et al.
anxiety) in a learning task tend to feel incompetent and choose to withdraw from their learning (Hernandez et al. 2018; Pekrun et al. 2011). By contrast, students who experience positive emotions (e.g., interests and enjoyment) tend to engage and exert more effort in their learning even when faced with obstacles (King et al. 2015). A growing body of research suggests that emotions may have adaptive or maladaptive effects on the learning, engagement, and achievement of students (D'Mello and Graesser 2012; Tulis and Fulmer 2013). Studies have shown that positive emotions are positively associated with engageme
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