Emotional intelligence and academic performance as measured by GPA in college students

Emotional Intelligence (EI) is relevant to human performance in many environments. EI measures have been found to have a positive and significant association with measures of performance in work place and academic environment, happiness, well being and the quest for a meaningful life (Bar-On, 2010). This study explored whether the mean level of emotional intelligence (EI) increases over the course of early adulthood. This is reflected by differences in the measure of EI of college students at different class levels (such as freshman vs. seniors). In addition, this study examined if there is a positive relationship between level of EI and academic performance and a relationship between EI and academic performance changes between freshmen and senior years. Participants consisted of 67 undergraduate students. The students took the Schutte Self Report Emotional Intelligence Test and reported their grade point averages (GPAs). The results of the study suggest that there is no relationship between EI and different class levels or a relationship between EI and academic performance. However, there were limitations to the study such as restricted range among students’ GPAs, the lack of ethnic diversity in the sample, and the small number of participants per major. Even though previous research has found a relationship between EI and academic performance, the results of this study have failed to support the relationshi