IMPORTANT SKILLS FOR ACADEMIC SUCCESS
Understanding and managing emotions found to be almost as important as IQ
IQ SCORES explain about 15% of the differences between pupils’ grades.
Conscientiousness, such as having the diligence to do enough study, explains about 5%.
Our recent research found emotional intelligence explains 4% of differences between pupils’ achievement. But the ability to understand emotions, a component of emotional intelligence, explains about 12%.
Different researchers use different definitions. Some define it as the ability to perceive, use, understand and manage your own and other people’s emotions. This is called “ability emotional intelligence”.
Others also include character traits such as optimism, impulse control and the ability to motivate yourself. This is called “mixed emotional intelligence” because it is a mix of abilities and character traits.
We examined the findings of more than 150 studies on the link between emotional intelligence and academic performance. The studies included more than 42 000 pupils and 1 246 different estimations of the size of the relationship.
Some of the studies used rating scales to assess emotional intelligence. Here, test-takers might rate their emotional abilities with items like “I am aware of the nonverbal messages other people send” or rate their mixed emotional intelligence with items like “I am motivated to succeed”.
Others tested emotional intelligence by measuring participants’ emotional abilities with skill-based tasks. For example, test takers might be asked to identify which emotion is expressed in a face.
Emotional intelligence explained about 4% of differences in academic achievement. But some types were more important than others. Skillbased emotional intelligence, such as reading people’s faces, explained 6% of differences in academic achievement, but self-ratings of emotional abilities explained 1%.
Emotional skills assessed from the outside are more important for pupils’ academic performance than self-ratings (or self-beliefs) about their emotional skills.
The two most important for academic success were understanding emotions and managing emotions.
Pupils who can understand emotions can accurately label their own and others’ emotions. They know what causes emotions, how emotions change and how they combine. Pupils who can manage emotions know how to regulate their emotions in a stressful situation. They also know what to do to maintain good social relationships with others.
Emotion management skills accounted for 7% of differences in academic performance. Emotion understanding skills accounted for 12%. That is, understanding emotions is more important than conscientiousness (5%) and almost as important as pupils’ IQ (15%).
Emotionally intelligent pupils tend to be more intelligent as well as more conscientious.
For pupils with the same levels of intelligence and conscientiousness: self-ratings of mixed emotional intelligence (the one involving skills and character traits) explained 2.3% of differences in performance, emotion understanding skills explained 3.9% and emotion management skills explained 3.6%.
There are three reasons we believe emotional intelligence relates to higher academic performance. First, pupils with higher emotional intelligence can regulate their “academic emotions”. Pupils may feel anxious about tests and performance. They may feel bored when learning required but dull material. And they may feel frustrated or disappointed when they can’t get the hang of a task.
Pupils who can regulate tough emotions will achieve more. Anxiety will not impair performance.
They can push through the boredom and frustration to master dull or difficult material. They can learn from negative feedback or failure rather than be derailed by disappointment.
Second, pupils with higher emotional intelligence can form better social relationships with their classmates and teachers.
They can get help with school work or with social and emotional needs.
Third, many non-technical academic subjects require an understanding of human emotions and social relations.
Analysing universal themes of love and betrayal in Shakespeare’s plays requires emotional knowledge and skill.
Teachers, parents and pupils should focus on emotional skills not just for pupils’ well-being, but for their ability to succeed academically.