Emotional intelligence gets the grades

Through an ARC Discovery Project grant, Associate Professor Carolyn MacCann at The University of Sydney, Associate Professor Amirali Minbashian, from The University of New South Wales and Dr Kit Double at Oxford University, have analysed data to show that students who are better able to understand and manage their emotions get better grades.

The research team analysed data from more than 160 studies including more than 42,000 students from 27 countries published between 1998 and 2019. The students ranged from primary school to university.

They found that students with higher emotional intelligence received higher grades and better achievement test scores than those with lower emotional intelligence scores. The most surprising result was that this happened regardless of age.

Associate Professor MacCann said that there may be a number of factors to explain the association, including that students with higher emotional intelligence may be better able to manage the social world around them, forming stronger relationships with teachers, other students and family.

There may be an overlap in the skills required to master some subjects and those required for emotional intelligence—for example, understanding human motivation and emotion could assist in humanities subjects.

While the researchers warn against widespread testing of students for emotional intelligence, it is suggested that it would be beneficial if emotional skill development could be integrated into the existing curriculum.

	THE RESEARCH SUGGESTS THAT EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IS IMPORTANT FOR STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE.

 

Image: Kids playing in forest stock photo. Istock.com/jacoblund.