CORRELATION OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE WITH DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS, ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND CULTURAL ADJUSTMENT OF THE STUDENTS OF IIUI

Abstract

This research was designed to examine the relationship of emotional intelligence with demographic characteristics, academic achievement and cultural adjustment of the university students. The study posits that emotional intelligence is a significant predictor of academic achievement as well as cultural adjustment and that demographic characteristics play a mediating role in these relationships. Cultural adjustment was also considered a significant predictor of academic achievement of sojourner students that can mediate the impact of emotional intelligence on academic achievement. Emotional intelligence was also considered to be a mediating factor in the relationship of cultural adjustment and academic achievement. The participants of the study were 615 students studying in International Islamic University Islamabad. BarOn EQi was used to measure emotional intelligence and Cultural Adjustment Scale was used to measure adjustment level of the students. Academic achievement was taken in terms of students’ CGPA after completing the first semester in the university. Data was collected during Fall 2008 when the participants were enrolled in their first semester in the university. SPSS 12 was used for data analysis and various statistical measures including correlation, regression, ANOVA and t-test, were applied to make inference from the observed data. The results of the study supported the proposed hypotheses and revealed significant relationships among the major variables of the study. Emotional intelligence was found to be a significant predictor of academic achievement as well as cultural adjustment, and cultural adjustment was found to be a significant predictor of academic achievement. The mediating role of some demographic characteristics was also confirmed. In the light of the findings of the study, it was concluded that both emotional intelligence and cultural adjustment are important factors that can affect the academic achievement of university students. Some implications for education include training of university students in emotional skills in order to prepare them better for practical life and providing international students the opportunities to interact with the host community so that they can better understand the new cultural and social environment