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Carolyn MacCann email the author, Yixin Jiang, Luke E. R. Brown, Kit S. Double,
Micaela Bucich, Amirali Minbashian, MacCann, C., Jiang, Y., Brown, L. E. R., Double, K.
S., Bucich, M., & Minbashian, A. (2020). Emotional intelligence predicts academic
performance: A Meta-Analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 146(2), 150–186.
https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000219
Abstract
Schools and universities devote considerable time and resources to developing students’
social and emotional skills, such as emotional intelligence (EI). The goals of such
programs are partly for personal development but partly to increase academic
performance.
The current meta-analysis examines the degree to which student EI is associated with
academic performance. We found an overall effect of ρ = .20 using robust variance
estimation (N = 42,529, k = 1,246 from 158 citations). The association is significantly
stronger for ability EI (ρ = .24, k = 50) compared with self-rated (ρ = .12, k = 33) or
mixed EI (ρ = .19, k = 90). Ability, self-rated, and mixed EI explained an additional
1.7%, 0.7%, and 2.3% of the variance, respectively, after controlling for intelligence and
big five personality.
Understanding and management branches of ability EI explained an additional 3.9%
and 3.6%, respectively. Relative importance analysis suggests that EI is the third most
important predictor for all three streams, after intelligence and conscientiousness.
Moderators of the effect differed across the three EI streams. Ability EI was a stronger
predictor of performance in humanities than science. Self-rated EI was a stronger
predictor of grades than standardized test scores.
We propose that three mechanisms underlie the EI/academic performance link:
1) regulating academic emotions,
2) building social relationships at school, and
3) academic content overlap with EI.
Different streams of EI may affect performance through different mechanisms. We
note some limitations, including the lack of evidence for a causal direction.
Public Significance Statement
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This meta-analysis shows that emotional intelligence has a small to moderate
association with academic performance, such that students with higher emotional
intelligence tend to gain higher grades and achievement test scores. The association is
stronger for skill-based emotional intelligence tasks than rating scales of emotional
intelligence. It is strongest for skill-based tasks measuring understanding emotions and
managing emotions.
KEYWORDS:
academic performance, emotional intelligence, intelligence, meta-analysis, personality
Emotional intelligence (EI) has captured the public imagination, and rightly so. Recent
meta-analyses clearly demonstrate that emotionally intelligent people perform better in
their jobs (Joseph, Jin, Newman, & O’Boyle, 2015; Joseph & Newman, 2010; O’Boyle,
Humphrey, Pollack, Hawver, & Story, 2011), and have better health and wellbeing
outcomes (Martins, Ramalho, & Morin, 2010; Schutte, Malouff, Thorsteinsson, Bhullar,
& Rooke, 2007).
In education, there is a growing consensus among educators, researchers, and
policymakers that EI is an important skill for students to develop, both for their future
wellbeing as well as their future workplace success.
Although there is evidence that social and emotional learning programs in school are
effective (Durlak, Weissberg, Dymnicki, Taylor, & Schellinger, 2011) and that noncognitive constructs are powerful predictors of academic performance (Poropat,
2009; Richardson, Abraham, & Bond, 2012), there is not yet a large-scale metaanalysis examining the extent to which EI correlates with academic performance.
The current article provides the first comprehensive large-scale meta-analyses
estimating the extent to which EI predicts academic performance. We consider all major
conceptualizations of EI, all stages of education (from elementary school through to
university), and the different facets of EI.
We also examine the incremental validity of EI above and beyond the traditional
psychological characteristics known to predict academic performance (intelligence and
the five major personality domains on these).
NOTE: This article contains Seven Parts to support all aspects of: Emotional
Intelligence Predicts Academic Performance: A Meta-Analysis. To get the full impact of
this article, please read all seven parts that follow.
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Draw conclusion here and give an overview of the contribution of the other parts