emotional intelligence, general mental ability and academic achievement of adolescents

101 Pages·2014·0.91 MB·English

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE, GENERAL MENTAL ABILITY
AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF ADOLESCENTS

Thesis submitted to the
University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
Degree of

MASTER OF HOME SCIENCE

IN

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND FAMILY STUDIES

BY

WONCHANO E. ENNY

DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND FAMILY STUDIES
COLLEGE OF RURAL HOME SCIENCE, DHARWAD
UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES,
DHARWAD-580 005

JUNE, 2013
ADVISORY COMMITTEE

DHARWAD (GANGA YENAGI)
JUNE, 2013 MAJOR ADVISOR

Approved by :
Chairman : ____________________________
(GANGA YENAGI)
Members : 1._________________________
(PUSHPA B. KHADI)
2. __________________________
(MANJULA PATIL)
3. __________________________
(CHHAYA BADIGER))

4. __________________________
(P. A. KATARKI)
CONTENTS

Sl. Chapter particulars
No.
CERTIFICATE
LIST OF TABLES
LIST OF FIGURES
LIST OF APPENDICES
1 INTRODUCTION
2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE
2.1 Concepts
2.2 Selected factors influencing emotional intelligence, general mental ability
and academic achievements of adolescents
2.3 Relationship between emotional intelligence, general mental ability and
academic achievement of adolescents
3 MATERIAL AND METHODS
3.1 Research design
3.2 Population and sample
3.3 Variable considered for the study
3.4 Research tools
3.5 Data collection procedure
3.6 Methods of statistical analysis
3.7 Operational definitions
3.8 Hypothesis for the study
4 RESULTS
4.1 Demographic characteristics of the adolescents selected for the study
4.2 Emotional intelligence, general mental ability and academic achievements of
urban and rural adolescents
4.3 Influence of selected factors on emotional intelligence, general mental ability
and academic achievement of adolescents.
4.4 Interrelationship between emotional intelligence, general mental ability and
academic achievement of adolescents
4.5 Association between emotional intelligence, general mental ability and
academic achievements of adolescents
5 DISCUSSION
5.1 Emotional intelligence, general mental ability and academic achievements of
urban and rural adolescents
5.2 Influence of selected factors on emotional intelligence, general mental ability
and academic achievements of adolescents
5.3 Inter-relationship between emotional intelligence, general mental ability and
academic achievements of adolescents
6 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
LIST OF TABLES

Table Titles
No.
1 Demographics characteristics of adolescents selected for the study
2 Comparison of emotional intelligence of urban and rural adolescents
3 Comparison of general mental ability of urban and rural adolescents
4 Comparison of academic achievements of urban and rural adolescents
5 Association between age and emotional intelligence of adolescents
6 Comparison of emotional intelligence of adolescents by gender
7 Comparison of emotional intelligence of adolescents by ordinal position
8 Association between type of family and emotional intelligence of adolescents
9 Association between size of family and emotional intelligence of adolescents
10 Association between parents education and emotional intelligence of
adolescents
11 Association between parents occupation and emotional intelligence of
adolescents
12 Association between family income and emotional intelligence of adolescents
13 Association between socio economic status and emotional intelligence of
adolescents
14 Association between age and general mental ability of adolescents
15 Comparison of general metal ability of adolescents by gender
16 Comparison of general mental ability of adolescents by ordinal position
17 Association between type of family and general mental ability of adolescents
18 Association between size of family and general mental ability of adolescents
19 Association between parents education and general mental ability of
adolescents
20 Association between parents occupation and general mental ability of
adolescents
21 Association between family income and general mental ability of adolescents
22 Association between socio economic status and general mental ability of
adolescents
23 Association between age and academic achievement of adolescents
24 Comparison of academic achievement of adolescent by gender
25 Comparison of academic achievements of adolescents by ordinal position
26 Association between type of family and academic achievement of adolescents
27 Association between size of family and academic achievement of adolescents
28 Association between parents education and academic achievement of
adolescents
29 Association between parents occupation and academic achievement of
adolescents
30 Association between family income and academic achievement of adolescents
31 Association between socio economic status and academic achievement of
adolescents
32 Inter-relationship between emotional intelligence, general mental ability and
academic achievements of adolescents
33 Association between emotional intelligence and general mental ability of
adolescents
34 Association between emotional intelligence and academic achievement of
adolescents
35 Association between general mental ability and academic achievement of
adolescents

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure
No. Title
1 Sample selection
2 Total emotional intelligence of urban and rural adolescents
3 General mental ability of urban and rural adolescents
4 Academic achievements of urban and rural adolescents
5 Total emotional intelligence by age
6 Total emotional intelligence by gender
7 Total emotional intelligence by ordinal position
8 General mental ability by age
9 General mental ability by gender
10 General mental ability by ordinal position
11 Academic achievement by age
12 Academic achievement by gender
13 Academic achievements by ordinal position

LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix Title
No.
I General information schedule
II Baron-On EQi:YV
III Socio economic status scale by Aggerwal et.al (2005)
INTRODUCTION
Historically, emotions have been largely viewed as disorganized forces that disrupt one’s
ability to reason and think. Emotions are held as interfering with attempts to function rationally in the
world. Recent work however challenged this perspective. Now it is thought that emotions provide
information, direct attention, and facilitate the attainment of goals. It is held that adaptive processing
of emotionally relevant information is an integral part of intelligence (Salovey and Mayer, 1990).
Ever since the publication of the bestselling book “Emotional Intelligence" by Daniel Goleman
(1995), the topic of emotional intelligence has gained unparalleled interest. According to Goleman
(1995) emotional intelligence (E.I.) is defined as the ability to know, manage one’s own emotions,
recognise them in others and handle relationships. Peter Salovey and John Mayer, who originally
used the term "emotional intelligence" in published writing, initially defined emotional intelligence as a
form of intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one's own and others' feelings and emotions, to
discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one's thinking and actions (Salovey &
Mayer, 1990).
Later, these authors revised their definition of emotional intelligence as the ability to perceive
emotion, integrate emotion to facilitate thought, understand emotions, and to regulate emotions to
promote personal growth (Mayer & Salovey, 1997). They emphasised that emotion makes thinking
more intelligent and that one think intelligently about emotions. Also, one who possesses these
abilities is considered a well adjusted and emotionally skilled individual. Most recently Salovey, Mayer
and Caruso (2002) have stated that emotional intelligence “refer to the ability to process emotions-
laden information competently and to use it to guide cognitive activities like problem solving and to
focus energy on required behaviour”.
Another prominent researcher of the emotional intelligence construct is Reuven Bar-On, the
originator of the term "emotion quotient". Possessing a slightly different outlook, he defines emotional
intelligence as being concerned with understanding oneself and others, relating to people, and
adapting to and coping with the immediate surroundings to be more successful in dealing with
environmental demands (Bar-On, 1997). He suggested five composite scales of emotional
intelligence which are intrapersonal, interpersonal, stress management, adaptability and general
mood.
As emotional intelligence involve skills such as motivation and determination, it plays an
important role in achieving goals in various field of life thereby leading to success. Studies conducted
in multiple areas like education, health, work, etc. indicate that emotional intelligence is related with
different aspect of success in life. For example, Fernandes and Rego (2004) found that emotional
intelligence is an important predictor of students’ satisfaction with life, health and academic
achievement. The study conducted by Qualter, Whiteley, Hutchinson, and Pope (2007) found that
higher level of emotional intelligence facilitate students’ ability to cope with the transition from primary
to secondary school. Parker et al (2004) in their studies they concluded that various elements of
emotional intelligence used as predictors of academic success. They found that highly successful
students scored higher than the unsuccessful group on three subsets of emotional intelligence
(interpersonal ability, stress management and adaptability).
General mental ability is defined as an ability to learn a wide variety of intellectual skills i.e.
ability to process information efficiently, recall knowledge quickly and solve problem accurately. The
idea of general mental ability, or intelligence, was first conceptualised by Spearman in 1940. He
reflect on the popularity notion that some people are more academically able than others, noting that
people who tend to perform well in one intellectual domain also tend to perform well in other domain..
Wechsler (1958) defined intelligence as the aggregate or global capacity of the individuals to act
purposefully; to think rationally and to deal effectively with his environment. Intelligence quotients
th
(I.Q.’s) were developed and used during the initial part of the 20 century as measures of intelligence.
French psychologist Alfred Binet pioneered the modern intelligence testing movement in developing a
measure of mental age in children, a chronological age that typically corresponds to a given level of
performance (Myers, 1998). More modern studies linked a person's I.Q. with their potential for
success in general (Weschler, 1958).
Thilam and Kirby (2002) investigated the impact of emotional and general intelligence on
individual performance and concluded that overall emotional intelligence (emotional perception and
emotional regulation) uniquely explained individual cognitive-based performance over and beyond the
level attributable to general intelligence.
With increasing usage of emotional intelligence by managers and scholars, Mayer and
Salovey (1997) recognized their earlier definition as inadequate and stated that emotional intelligence
reflects not a single trait or ability but, rather, a composite of distinct emotional reasoning abilities:
perceiving, understanding, and regulating emotions. Cobb and Mayer (2003) characterized emotional
intelligence as “powerful”, at times “more powerful”, and even “twice as powerful” as 1Q; it de-
emphasized the importance of general 1Q and promised to level the playing field for those whose
cognitive abilities might be wanting. After an extensive review of literature on emotional intelligence,
Cobb and Mayer (2003) summarized it thus:
“Among the ingredients for success, 1Q counts for about 20%; the rest depends on
everything from environment to luck to the neural pathways that have developed in the brain over
millions of years of human evolution”.
Education has always been concerned with the prediction of academic achievement.
Psychologist have termed it as ‘educational forwardness’, ‘educational backwardness’, academic
achievement, scholastic backwardness’ and so on; these refer to the scores obtained in the annual
examination by the student, i.e. the end product of a student’s whole year of labour. Crow and Crow
(1969) defined scholastic achievement as the extent to which a learner is profiting from instructions in
a given area of learning, i.e. achievements as reflected by the extent to which skills or knowledge has
been acquired by a person from training imparted to him. Forecasting of performance of school and
college students is a problem of obvious importance in education. Researchers have tried to unveil
the influence of psychological factors in increasing vim and vigour in the form of achievement. Among
these factors emotional intelligence and general mental ability has been identified as a prominent
correlate. The role therefore, played by emotional mental ability and general mental ability in
academic achievement has been explored frequently. The study conducted by Alam (2010) revealed
a significant positive correlation between emotional intelligence and academic achievement. Asthana
(2011) found high positive significant relationship between intelligence (mental ability) and scholastic
achievement.
Adolescence is thought to bring new potentials for emotional knowledge and management
skills. A central feature of teenagers’ new knowledge is believed to be a capacity for understanding
emotions in relationship to complex interacting systems, cultural systems, and internal bio-psycho
systems. Adolescents’ ability to reason about these different systems potentially permits them, for
example, to differentiate people’s momentary emotions from their personalities, to understand the
cultural conditions surrounding complex interpersonal emotions (e.g., pride, shame, embarrassment),
and to assess better the causes and effects of emotions.
In conjunction with this greater knowledge, it is believed that adolescents develop more
executive control in the management of emotions in self and interpersonal systems, a developmental
change that may be partly afforded by brain development. Teenagers are thought to have greater
potential to acquire meta-cognitive strategies for regulation of negative emotions and enhancement of
positive emotions. Thus, for example, they may become better able to adapt their expression of
emotions to influence others, to negotiate personal relationships in the presence of strong emotions,
and deploy more diverse and flexible coping responses.
Adolescents as a group have long been regarded as a unique group with a wide range of
difficulties and problems in their transition to adulthood. One aspect of adolescents is their emotions.
Students are measured in terms of their performance and grades. However, an intrinsic aspect of
adolescents as well as of us all, and one that is usually not assessed, is what has been defined as
“emotional intelligence”. Although emotional intelligence has been adopted as a relatively new
concept, it has always, even if largely unacknowledged, been part of our being. It is a recent area of
research, especially with regard to testing emotional intelligence and in establishing the role of
emotional intelligence during adolescence.
Despite possessing a high IQ, success may not automatically follow but by increasing the
emotional quotients, the adolescents can become more productive and successful. Goleman (1995)
discussed that IQ contributes only 20% in the success of life and the rest by other factor. These
factors may include emotional intelligence, luck and social class. Scientific studies have suggested
that emotional intelligence helps a person to become successful in life. Therefore, developing high
emotional intelligence is essential for an adolescent to excel in future life.
There are few studies done on how emotional intelligence and general mental ability influence
academic achievement of adolescent. Hence, the present study on emotional intelligence, general
mental ability and academic achievement of adolescents has been taken up.
The present study attempts to explore emotional intelligence, general mental ability of
adolescents with the following objectives:
1. To assess the emotional intelligence, general mental abilities and academic achievement of
urban and rural adolescents
2. To know the interrelationship between emotional intelligence, general mental ability and
academic achievement
3. To know the influence of selected factors on emotional intelligence, general mental ability and
academic achievement
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
A comprehensive view of studies is an essential step in any research endeavour to provide
base for developing a framework, insight into the methodology and working out a basis for
interpretation of findings. Keeping in view the objectives of the study, the literature pertaining to
emotional intelligence, general mental ability and academic achievement are reviewed and presented
under following headings:
2.1 Concept of emotional intelligence, general mental ability and academic achievement
2.2 Studies on factors influencing emotional intelligence, general mental ability and academic
achievement.
2.3 Relationship between academic achievement and emotional intelligence, general mental
ability and academic achievement, emotional intelligence and general mental ability
2.1 Concepts:
2.1.1 Emotional intelligence
2.1.2 General mental ability
2.1.3 Academic achievement
2.1.1 Emotional intelligence: Emotional intelligence is relatively a new concept. The term emotional
intelligence was first introduced in 1990 by Salovey and Mayer. They defined it as a mental ability that
consists of “ability to monitor one’s own and other’s feelings and emotions, to discriminate among
them and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions”. Goleman(2005) further enriched
this concept and suggested that it is the factor that contributes to eighty percent of person’s success
or failure in life while intelligence quotient (IQ) contributes only twenty percent. Rauven Bar-on (1997)
defined emotional intelligence as “an array of non cognitive capabilities, competence, and skills that
influence one’s ability to succeed in coping with environmental demands and pressure”.
Emotional intelligence has two significant components, i.e., ‘emotions’ and ‘Intelligence’.
Emotional intelligence adds emotional stability that makes us more capable
2.1.2 General mental ability: The idea of general mental ability was first conceptualized by Spearman
in 1904. He reflected on the popularity held notion that some people are more academically able than
others, noting that people who tend to perform well in one intellectual domain also tend to perform
well in other domain too.
General mental ability is a term used to describe the level at which an individual learns,
understands instructions, and solve problems.
2.1.3 Academic achievement: it is a complex phenomenon and requires different approaches to
understanding and interpretation. It is the function of many cognitive and non-cognitive aspect of
personality (Vendal, 1994). Choudhary (2004) defined academic achievement as knowledge acquired
and skill developed in school subjects, generally indicated by marks obtained in test or in an annual
examination.
2.2 Selected Factors influencing emotional intelligence, general mental ability and
academic achievement
2.2.1 Selected Factors influencing emotional intelligence
The following studies reveal the influence selected factors on emotional intelligence of
adolescent.
2.2.1.1 Age
Chauhan and Bhatnagar (2003) conducted a study on “Assessing emotional maturity,
emotional expression and emotional intelligence of adolescent male and female students. The sample
consisted of 120 male and female adolescents (both pre and post adolescence stage) from middle
socioeconomic status. 60 students (30 male and 30 female) were of 10, 11and 12 years old (pre
adolescent) and 60 students (30 male and 30 female) were of 17, 18 and 19 years old (post
adolescent). The tools used were emotional maturity scale by Singh and Bhargava and self prepared
emotional expression scale by Chouhan and Bhatnagar.
The result revealed that post adolescent possessed a higher degree of emotional intelligence
than their pre adolescent counterparts
Pandey and Tripathi (2004) conducted a study on “Development of emotional intelligence-
some preliminary observations”. The sample comprises of 100 children of five age groups (5-6 years,
8-9 years, 11-12 years, 14-15 years and 17-18 years). The result revealed that the mean scores on all
measures of emotional intelligence increases with age.
Tiwari and Srivastava (2004) conducted study on “Schooling and development of emotional
intelligence”. Sample consisted of primary school children (N=270) studying in 3rd,4th and 5th grades.
The result reveals that older children of fifth grade scored higher on emotional intelligence than 3rd
and 4th grade children and gender had no significant main effect on emotional intelligence.
Uma and Devi (2005) conducted a study on “Relationship between the dimensions of
emotional intelligence of adolescents and selected personal social variable”. The sample comprises of
120 parents and their children between the age range of 15 to 17 years from city of Visakhapatnam.
The result reveals that age was not significantly correlated with emotional intelligence of the
adolescents.
Fariselli, Ghini and Freedman (2006) have examined the relationship between emotional
intelligence and age, showing a slight but significant positive correlation between them (r= .135). They
concluded that this correlation is very weak and there are more decisive factors that account for
variations in emotional intelligence.
Balci-Celik and Deniz (2008) conducted a study on the difference in the EI levels of Turkish
scouts and scouts from other countries with regard to age and gender. They found that there was no
difference in emotional intelligence regarding age.
Nasir and Masrur (2010) conducted a study on “An Exploration of Emotional Intelligence of
the Students of International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI) in Relation to Gender, Age and
Academic Achievement”. The sample consisted of 132 students, studying in different departments of
IIUI. Fifty percent of the sample consisted of male students and 50% of female students with the age
range 18-35 years. Their mean age was 24.14 years (SD= 4.04). Results indicated that there was no
significant correlation was found between age and emotional intelligence.
Nasir and Iqbal (2011) conducted a study on relationship of demographic factors with
emotional intelligence of university students. The sample consisted of 595 randomly selected students
studying in three public universities located in Islamabad. Forty Eight percent of the sample consisted
of male students (N= 285) and 52 per cent of female students (N= 310) with the age range 18-30. The
result revealed age significant positive correlation with EI.
2.2.1.2 Gender
Joseph et al. (2001) conducted study on “Measuring emotional intelligence in adolescents”.
The sample comprises of 130 students of age range 13 to 15 years. The result reveals that female
have higher emotional intelligence than male and is positively associated with skills at identifying
emotional expressions, amount of social support, extend of satisfaction with social support and mood
management behavior.
Tyagi (2004) carried out study on “Emotional intelligence of secondary teacher in relation to
gender and age”. The sample consisted of 350 male and 150 female adolescents belonging to
secondary school (urban and rural) from Dhole district, Maharashra. They were divided into three
groups according to their age - group I (below 20 years), group II (31 to 45 years) and group III (40 to
60 years). The tool used was emotional intelligence test by Chandha and Singh (2006). The result
revealed that there was no significant difference between age and emotional intelligence of the school
teachers.
Tiwari and Srivastava (2004) conducted study on “Schooling and development of emotional
intelligence”. Sample consisted of primary school children (N=270) studying in 3rd, 4th and 5th grades.
The result reveals that and gender had no significant main effect on emotional intelligence.
Verma and Alka (2004) carried out a study on “Emotional intelligence and general well being
among college students”. The sample consisted of 120 post graduate students (60 males and 60
females) from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. The mean age of the students was 23.04 years for
males and 22.13 for females.