Feeling Smarter: The Impact of Emotional Intelligence and Situational Academic Stressors on Resilience, Coping, and Well-Being

Since its inception, Salovey and Mayer’s (1990) construct of emotional intelligence has been associated with positive outcomes from heightened academic performance to resilience (Connor & Slear, 2009; Costa & Faria, 2020). The present study focused on the impact of emotional intelligence and academic stress on coping, resilience, and psychological well-being within a college population. It was hypothesized that those high in emotional intelligence would employ more approach coping strategies and fewer avoidance coping strategies compared to those low in emotional intelligence, and that the higher stress scenario would result in more avoidance and less approach coping compared to the moderate stress scenario. Emotional intelligence was also hypothesized to be a predictor of resilience and well-being. Participants (N=122) completed an online survey where they were asked to complete a measure of emotional intelligence and engage with two hypothetical academic stressors, one moderately stressful and one highly stressful. They then completed a coping assessment following each scenario plus measures of resilience and psychological well-being. Mixed-model ANOVAs revealed that, compared to those with low emotional intelligence, those high in emotional intelligence reported more approach coping strategies and fewer avoidance coping strategies. Contrary to expectations, participants reported higher rates of both avoidance and approach coping in the higher stress scenario than in the moderate stress scenario. Emotional intelligence was also found to be a significant predictor of resilience and psychological well-being