Abstract
This research proposal will investigate the effect of emotional intelligence (EI) on academic performance. Many psychologist researchers acknowledge the fact that emotions are core to learning and that teachers should understand their role during the learning experience. EI is imperative in academic performance yet it is not part of the school curriculum.
The findings of the study will be used to assist students to see the importance of controlling their emotions and teachers to realize the need of integrating the components of EI into the curriculum and implementing them. The objective of the study will be to find out the effect of students emotional intelligence on academic performance.
An emotional intelligence bar and academic performance checklist will be used to collect data from students of both public and private schools. The emotional intelligence bar and the checklist will be compared to determine the correlation between emotional intelligence and academic performance.
Introduction
Background to the study
Many psychologist researchers acknowledge the fact that emotions are core to learning and that teachers should understand their role during the learning experience. An emotion is the outward expression of a person as he tries to interact with the environment on matters affecting his life while intelligence is the ability of a person to think logically (Bell, 2010).
Intelligence is not usually related to emotions and it is mostly used in schools to measure performance. According to Van Rooy & Viswesvaran (2004), there is a positive correlation between academic performance and emotions. They recommended that teachers should integrate the component of EI into the curriculum so that students can have high academic performance.
Parker et al., (2004) explained that EI is the ability of a person to control his emotions and guide his thoughts and actions. When a person is emotionally intelligent, he has the skills of detecting, utilizing, comprehending and controlling emotions. Additionally, Parker et al., (2004) stated that EI has five components that include self-awareness, self-motivation, management, empathy and relating well with others.
The aim of the teacher is to ensure that students excel in academic performance. In the past, people believed that success depend on intelligent quotient (IQ). Recently, several theories have emerged and they include multiple and emotional intelligence. Therefore, academic performance depends on intelligence and handling of emotions.
The statement problem
EI is imperative in academic performance yet it is not part of the school curriculum. Van Rooy & Viswesvaran (2004) stated that many students have difficulties copping with schoolwork under strong emotional challenges like long walk to school, boring teachers and poor learning environment like overcrowded class. It is therefore important to measure the effect of students’ emotional intelligence on academic performance.
The significance of the study
The findings of the study will be used to assist students to see the importance of controlling their emotions and teachers to realize the need of integrating the components of EI into the curriculum and implementing them.
Research questions
- Do student who perform well have high levels of EI?
- Do students with low performance have low levels of EI?
The objective
To find out the effect of students emotional intelligence on academic performance
Variables
- Independent. Emotional intelligence
- Dependent. Academic performance
Hypothesis
Null: Students with high emotional intelligence will not have a higher succeeding rate on academic performance
Alternative: Students with high emotional intelligence will have a higher succeeding rate on academic performance
Literature Review
The evolution of emotional intelligence
Many psychologists have attempted to explore the link between academic performance and personality but with little success. Austin et al., (2005) concluded that a positive correlation exist between academic performance and creativity which encompass a person’s personality as well as motivation.
Austin et al., (2005) was able to demonstrate the significance of personality in academic performance but could not associate it with motivation.
Parker et al., (2005) conducted another study and they could associate personality with academic performance. According to Parker et al., (2005), personality included emotional stability of a person, sociability, independence in decision-making and reflective capacity.
They concluded that IQ and personality could be used to predict academic performance of a student. Besides, the aforementioned constituents of personality are similar to components of EI. Gardener introduced the theory of multiple intelligence and it opened ways to emotional intelligence (Van Rooy & Viswesvaran, 2004).
EI has five components, which have significant effects on academic performance. They include self-awareness, self-motivation, management, empathy and relating well with others.
The link between emotional intelligence and academic performance
Dysfunction personality, which is an element of EI, is attributed to low academic performance. A student with dysfunction personality lack self-esteem, motivation, self-control and is always anxious (Parker et al., 2005). The aforementioned student is said to be of low EI and has low academic performance.
Cote & Miners (2006) conducted a study about emotional intelligence and they realized that it moderated the association between performance in academics and logic ability. They found out that students with high academic performance had high coping mechanisms and ability to manage and adapt to stressful conditions.
According to Van Rooy & Viswesvaran (2004), emotional intelligence is related to academic performance because academic is self-directed and it need self-management. Thus, students with high levels of emotional intelligent perform better academically than their counterparts with low intelligence.
The link between the different components of emotional intelligence and academic performance
Self-awareness
Self-awareness enables a student to know his weakness and strength, thus, building self-confidence. In a research done, Parker et al., (2004) found out that among students with high IQ, those with self-awareness had high academic performance than the rest.
Therefore, self-awareness is elemental to learning. Students need to understand the learning process. Those with self-awareness have an intrinsic motivation and will have high performance.
Emotional management
Self-control on cognition is an imperative aspect of high academic performance (Parker et al., 2005). Self-control enable a student to reduce any difficulty that he face, control an adverse action, achieve the set objectives, thus, increase in performance.
Austin et al., (2005) stated that all students become frustrated when they fail and they can only succeed if they are able to control their negative emotions. In another study, Austin et al., (2005) stated that students who were able to control their impulse had high academic performance and excellent social skills. Teachers can achieve better performance by targeting emotional management.
Empathy
Parker et al., (2004) explored the relationship between empathy and high academic performance and found out that students with ability of identifying with emotions of others performed well in class. Besides, those with low levels of empathy performed poorly at class.
In another research, Cote & Miners (2006) analyzed the academic performance of students with the same IQ but with different levels of empathy. He found that student with high levels of empathy had high academic performance. This is because they had a high academic motivation therefore, good academic performance.
Self-motivation
Motivation is the desire that control ones interest and it allows an individual to participate in the learning activities (Parker et al., 2005). A student who has self-motivation will study as well as understand the learning goals thus, excelling in academics.
In a study done, Van Rooy & Viswesvaran (2004) concluded that a positive correlation exist between academic achievement and self-motivation. A student with self-motivation can control his behavior and concentrate on academic works because of his ability to interact with the environment and other people.
Interpersonal skills
Academic performance depends on the ability of a student to socialize and control his emotions. Parker et al., (2005) stated that academic performance is associated with ones aspirations and abilities of interacting with the environment.
The learning environment can remove a behavior that leads to success, thus, interpersonal skill is mandatory for high academic performance. According to Cote & Miners (2006), interpersonal skills like tolerance and following teachers instruction is significant for academic achievement. Therefore, students with interpersonal skills show good performance.
Methodology / Plan Of Study
Research design
The study will be a cross sectional descriptive study. The study instruments will be a bar on emotional intelligence that will be used to determine the level of emotional intelligence of the students and a checklist for analyzing the academic performance.
Study population
The study will be carried out on consenting students from both public and private schools.
- Inclusion criteria. Any consenting student who attends public or private school will be included in the study.
- Exclusion criteria. Any non-consenting student will be excluded in the study.
Sampling method
Systematic random sampling will be used. The first student to be included in the study will be determined by simple random sampling.
The sampling interval width will be determined by the formula:
K = N / n (Bell, 2010)
K will be the sampling width interval
N will be the total number of students in school per day.
n will be the size of the sample to be analyzed per day.
Sample size determination
The sample size will be calculated by the formula; √n = (t0.01 x q) ÷0.5
By Bell (2010)
n will be the sample size
t0.01will be value of t at 99% confidence interval which was 2.576
q will be obtained from previously comparable studies.
Data collection procedures
The method of data collection will be a cross sectional analysis of students interview.
The data collection instruments will be a bar on emotional intelligence and checklists for analysis of academic performance.
Data collection
First, the selected student will be interviewed using a bar on emotional intelligence. This is a bar that was developed to measure the level of emotional intelligence and it has fifty questions. Secondly, the student will fill his academic performance on a checklist.
The average performance will be calculated. Thereafter, the score on emotional intelligence test and performance checklist will be compared to determine if there is a relationship between emotional intelligence and academic performance.
Data management and analysis
Field editing of the collected data will be done manually at the end of data collection process on that specific day. Central editing, coding, classification and tabulation of the data will be done at the end of data collection process using the excel computer program. The data will be analyzed using the same program and presented in forms of tables.
Design problems
Some students who qualify to be included in the study may refuse to participate. Others may drop out in the middle of the study. Some student may not tell the truth and this will be beyond my control. This is called Hawthorne effect and it usually interferes with the validity and reliability of the research.
Expected findings
Based on other research findings, I expect to reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternative hypothesis, which states that students with high emotional intelligence will have a higher succeeding rate on academic performance.
Ethical considerations
A written authority to carry out research will be obtained from the specific schools whose students will be included in the study. The relevance and usefulness of the research will be explained. Information will be collected from the participants after their expressed willingness and informed consent has been given.
They will be made aware of the type of information wanted, the purpose it will be put on, how they will be expected to participate in the study and how the study will be expected to directly or indirectly affect them. The consent will be voluntary without pressure of any kind.
No harm will be caused to any participant in the study. No bias will be involved in the study. Appropriate research methodology will be used, this means that a representative sample will be selected, a valid instrument will be used and correct conclusions will be drawn. The findings will be reported in a way that will not serve my own or someone else’s interest. The information obtained will be used for the good of the participants.
References
Austin, E. J., Evans, P., Goldwater, R., & Potter, V. (2005). A preliminary study of emotional intelligence, empathy and exam performance in first year medical students. Personality and Individual Differences, 39(8), 1395–1405.
Bell, J. (2010). Doing Your Research Project. Columbia: McGraw-Hill International.
Cote, S., & Miners, C. T. H. (2006). Emotional intelligence, cognitive intelligence, and job performance. Administrative Science Quarterly, 51(1), 1–28.
Parker, J. D. A., Creque, R. E., Barnhart, D. L., Harris, J. I., Majeski, S. A., Wood, L. M., Bond, B. J., et al. (2005). Academic achievement in high school: does emotional intelligence matter? Personality and Individual Differences, 37(7), 1321–1330.
Parker, J. D. A., Summerfeldt, L. J., Hogan, M. J., & Majeski, S. A. (2004). Emotional intelligence and academic success: Examining the transition from high school to university. Personality and individual differences, 36(1), 163–172.
Van Rooy, D. L., & Viswesvaran, C. (2004). Emotional intelligence: A meta-analytic investigation of predictive validity and nomological net. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 65(1), 71–95.
Appendix
Appendix A: Budget
Appendix B: Respondent Consent Form
I hereby certify that i have been informed of the nature of this study and i give my consent to offer any information which is required of me.
Signature of Respondent: _______________________
Date__________________________
Signature of Researcher: _______________________
Date: _________________________
Appendix C: Emotional Intelligence Bar
Please tick in the appropriate column
Appendix D: Performance Checklist
Please fill in your academic performance