At the start of the five year study, 628 Year 7 students were tested on an objective measure of emotional intelligence - the ability to identify, assess, and manage your own and others’ emotions. These measures were then compared to each student’s English and Science results at Year 9 SAT and again two years later at GCSE.
A significant relationship was found between boys’ emotional intelligence and their SAT and GCSE English scores, with boys with higher emotional intelligence scores doing better in these exams. While for girls, a relationship between emotional intelligence and their SAT Science scores was discovered; girls with higher emotional intelligence scores did better in this exam.
Dr Pamela Qualter, from the University of Central Lancashire, saion 1st November,d: "IQ does result in better academic test results, but our results suggest that emotional intelligence is another key predictor of academic success.
"Further detailed analysis of the results suggests that emotional intelligence may moderate the effects of IQ on academic achievement. Faced with failure, a student low on IQ but who is emotionally intelligent will be able to manage their emotions surrounding failure, reconcile poor performance and work to improve; a student low on IQ and low emotional intelligence may find failure more difficult to deal with, which undermines their academic motivation."
One implication of this research is that opportunities to develop
students’ emotional intelligence could be a way to improve their
educational achievement. Thus, engagement in current UK educational
strategies (SEAL) are likely to be important for children’s future
academic progress.
Source: British Psychological Society (Press Release)
