Trait emotional intelligence and its links to university performance: An examination

Positive affect and self-care mediate the relationship between trait emotional intelligence and academic engagement in Lebanese undergraduates: Lessons learned from an online setting

This study examined the impact of positive psychology variables, namely trait emotional intelligence (EI), positive affect and self-care, on academic engagement (AE) in an online learning environment during COVID-19. The study involved 717 undergraduates in Lebanon and utilised structural equation modelling for data analysis. The results demonstrated that positive affect and self-care mediated the relationship between trait EI and AE. In women, both self-care and positive affect were mediators, whereas in men, positive affect was the only mediator. For students who received a mix of synchronous and asynchronous lessons, both self-care and positive affect mediated the relationship between trait EI and AE. However, for those who received only synchronous lessons, positive affect was the sole mediator. Furthermore, AE significantly predicted academic performance (AP) in both models. These findings suggest the importance of interventions that enhance trait EI, positive emotions and self-care to improve AE and ultimately AP in online learning.

A Three-Fold Integrated Perspective on Healthy Development: An Opinion Paper

Mental health and wellbeing are increasingly threatened in the current post-pandemic times, with stress, especially in students, reaching preoccupying levels. In addition, while many educational programs are unidimensional (i.e., lacking integration between physical, emotional and cognitive elements), there are ways to promote physical, social and mental health in children and adolescents. In this opinion paper, we will discuss the importance of an integrative approach for health development and examine relevant factors, such as awareness and emotional intelligence. We will highlight evidence ranging from behavioral to electrophysiological, structural and molecular, and report several recent studies supporting the effectiveness of a holistic approach in supporting wellbeing and creativity in children and adults, and detailing a specific paradigm named the Quadrato Motor Training (QMT). QMT is a specifically structured movement meditation, involving cognitive, motor and affective components. Finally, we will support a holistic view on education, integrating motion, emotion and cognition to develop a person-centered, or in this case student-centered, approach to wellbeing and health.

Types of Intelligence and Academic Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

The concept of intelligence has been extensively studied, undergoing an evolution from a unitary concept to a more elaborate and complex multidimensional one. In addition, several research studies have focused their efforts for decades on the study of intelligence as a predictor of academic performance of students at different educational stages, being a stable and highly relevant predictor along with other variables such as executive functions, social context, culture or parental guardianship. Thus, the present study, based on a systematic review and meta-analysis, includes 27 studies with a total sample of 42,061 individuals. The main objective was to analyse the relationship between intelligence and academic performance using different predictive models that include moderating variables such as country of origin, type of intelligence, gender and age. The findings of this research highlight the significant, positive and moderate relationship between intelligence and academic performance (r = 0.367; p < 0.001), highlighting the predictive capacity on school performance when the type of intelligence (general and implicit; 35%) or the country of origin (45%) is taken as a moderating variable, with the explanatory models on age or sex not being significant. Therefore, it can be concluded that intelligence, in addition to being a good predictor of academic performance, is influenced depending on the type of intelligence or theoretical model taken as a reference, and also depending on the country or culture of origin.

The Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and Clinical Success at the Completion of One Year of Courses for Diagnostic Medical Sonography or Radiography Students

Objective:

Since most health care programs have competitive entry and selective admission procedures, it is essential for colleges to select proper admissions tools to ensure student success in the health care programs. The purpose of the study was to determine what relationship exists between emotional intelligence (EI) and clinical success for diagnostic medical sonography (DMS) or radiography (RT) students. The main goal of this work was to explore if an EI model such as the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue) can be potentially used as one of the criteria in the admission selection process for DMS and RT programs in the future.

Materials and Methods:

The participants of this study were 26 imaging students. The convenient sample included 10 DMS and 16 RT students, enrolled in an Associate Degree in Applied Sciences program, within a community college. The study was conducted by administering the TEIQue questionnaire that collected EI data and demographic data of the participants in both programs. These data were gathered at the beginning of each respective program and 1 calendar year later. The clinical student success was examined over a period of 2 clinical semesters.

Results:

The analysis of the findings determined that a significant relationship existed between all EI variables such a global EI, 4 factors and 3 subscales of trait EI for both groups of students. The findings of this study did not show a significant relationship between clinical success and global EI as well as 3 subscales of trait EI for DMS or RT students. Nevertheless, a statistically significant increase was observed among 1 of the 4 EI factors, well-being, among RT students. Interestingly, DMS students did not show the same outcome.

Conclusion:

The results of this study provide limited empirical evidence that a strong relationship may exist between 1 of the 4 trait EI factors, well-being, among RT students and clinical success in this RT student cohort. This is an important finding that may support the use of the TEIQue questionnaire, as part of the admissions process for other RT programs. The DMS students did not exhibit the same results. However, the findings with the RT students demonstrate the need for further research.

Trait Emotional Intelligence and Self-regulated Learning in University Students during the COVID-19 pandemic: the mediation role of Intolerance of Uncertainty and COVID-19 Perceived Stress

The coronavirus pandemic strongly impacted the higher education system, challenging university students, who were required to make a considerable effort in terms of revising their personal study approach and managing their emotions. The present study aimed to examine the impact of Trait Emotional Intelligence (TEI) on Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) strategies directly, and indirectly through the mediation of COVID-19 perceived stress (PS) and Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU). 1055 Italian university students (mean age = 22.44 years, SD = 2.39) reached via social media, filled out the tools assessing TEI, COVID-19 PS, IU and SRL. Five mediation analyses performed with PROCESS showed that TEI positively predicted all SRL dimensions, and negatively influenced COVID-19 PS and Prospective and Inhibitory IU. COVID-19 PS and Inhibitory and Prospective IU differently predicted specific SRL dimensions. The indirect effects observed suggest that TEI may help university students to cope with stressful and uncertain psychological experiences in order to achieve higher levels of SRL strategies. The study highlights that TEI plays a pivotal role in academic SRL strategies, underlining the importance of its buffering effect in distressing circumstances such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Is emotional intelligence linked with academic achievement? The first TEIQue-SF study in a sample of Saudi medical rehabilitation students

Objective

The present study examined the relationship of the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire Short Form (TEIQue-SF) and academic achievement (GPA). Analyses were performed using a sample of Saudi-origin medical rehabilitation undergraduate students (N = 130). The present study examined the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire Short Form (TEIQue-SF). Analyses were performed using a sample of undergraduates (N = 585) recruited from four universities across China.

Methods

One hundred thirty medical rehabilitation students completed the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Short Form (TEIQue-SF). Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were carried out to elucidate relationships (or the lack of the same) between various variables.

Results

Whole sample alpha coefficient value for global trait EI was 0.84, while the same for trait EI factors ranged from 0.51 to 0.76. Global Trait EI was found higher in males than in females (Female students median score: 17 ± 2.56 VS Male students median score: 18 ± 3.67; U: 1667, p 0.04). A positive and statistically significant relationship was found between Well-being and the three other factors (with Self-control [r(128), 0.413, p 0.01]; with Emotionality [r(128), 0.518, p 0.01], with Sociability [r(128), 0.490, p 0.01]). Sociability was found to have a similar positive relationship with Self-control [r(128), 0.239, p 0.05] and Emotionality [r(128), 0.490, p 0.01] respectively. Furthermore, GPA was found to have a negative (not statistically significant) relation with Sociability. Overall, there was no association found between trait EI and GPA.

Conclusions

The present study is one of two studies that has investigated the train EI-academic achievement link in healthcare-related students. Our findings resonate with existing literature on the subject.

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The present study aims to use TEIQue-SF (shorter version of the long form TEIQue instrument) to study trait EI measures on a sample of undergraduate medical rehabilitation students in a Saudi public sector university.

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The choice of the shorter version is based on conciseness, predictive validity, and good fundamental psychometric properties covering student and nonstudent samples across the world.

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There is a considerable amount of interest around emotional IQ and how it affects us. TEI in this regard has come up with some important theorizations, one of them being its link with academic achievement.

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We conclude that the TEi construct may be diverse, and might have more indirect pathways that link it to academic performance.

Academic Performance and Emotional Intelligence with Age and Gender as Moderators: A Meta-analysis

Emotional intelligence has been considered an important construct by schools and universities because of its theoretical importance and practical implications. Considerable resources and time have been spent by the educational institutions to develop the emotional skills of their students. The present meta-analysis aimed at studying the relationship of emotional intelligence, including its three theoretical models, with academic performance while accounting for age and gender as moderators. "Robumeta" package was used for the meta-analysis of multilevel random effects with robust variance estimation (RVE) in R version 4.0.3. Effect sizes were calculated and meta-regression analysis with RVE was used to assess the relationship with the moderator variables. A positive and significant overall relationship was found between emotional intelligence and academic performance (ρ = 0.19). The moderating effect of emotional intelligence with gender streams on emotional intelligence and academic performance's relationship was examined through meta-regression with robust variance estimation and sub-group analyses. Whereas the relationship between emotional intelligence and academic performance was not found to be moderated by age, it was found to be partially mediated by gender.

Linking emotional intelligence to safety performance: The roles of situational awareness and safety training

INTRODUCTION

Safety outcomes in the workplace require individual employees to perform (behave) safely in everyday duties. While the literature suggests that emotional management capabilities or traits can be positively related to individual performance in certain conditions, it is not clear how they can influence safety-related performance in high-risk work contexts. Drawing upon trait activation theory, this paper aims to examine when emotional intelligence (EI) benefits employees' safety performance. We propose that when employees receive inadequate safety training, EI is more likely to trigger their situational awareness and consequently promote their safety performance.

METHOD

We collected time-lagged data from 133 full-time airplane pilots working in commercial aviation industry. Hierarchical moderated regression analysis was conducted to test the moderating effect of safety training inadequacy on the EI-situational awareness relationship. The moderated mediation model, which involves conditional indirect effects of EI on safety performance via situational awareness across different levels of safety training inadequacy, was tested using the PROCESS-based bootstrap confidence interval.

RESULTS

Safety training inadequacy negatively moderated the relationship between EI and situational awareness, such that EI was significantly related to situational awareness only when safety training inadequacy was more salient. The more inadequate safety training was, the greater the indirect effect of EI on safety performance via situational awareness was.

CONCLUSIONS

Inadequate safety training, as a negative situational cue, can activate individuals' EI to drive their safety-related cognitions (e.g., situational awareness) and behaviors. Effective safety training may be able to complement employees' low EI in shaping their situational awareness and safety behaviors. Practical Applications: Aviation managers should monitor the adequacy and effectiveness of safety training; this could make pilots' situational awareness and safety performance depend less on personal attributes (e.g., EI), which organizations are less able to control. When training capacity is temporarily limited, priority might be given to those with low EI.

Trait Emotional Intelligence and Wellbeing During the Pandemic: The Mediating Role of Meaning-Centered Coping

Studies investigating the COVID-19 pandemic from a psychological point of view have mostly focused on psychological distress. This study adopts the framework of existential positive psychology, a second wave of positive psychology that emphasizes the importance of effective coping with the negative aspects of living in order to achieve greater wellbeing. Trait emotional intelligence (trait EI) can be crucial in this context as it refers to emotion-related personality dispositions concerning the understanding and regulation of one's emotions and those of others. The present study investigated the relationship between trait EI and both wellbeing and psychological distress (i.e., depression, anxiety, and stress), while exploring the mediating role of meaning-centered coping (proactive transformative strategies based on meaning in life) and maladaptive coping (i.e., behavioral disengagement and self-blame) during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic. A sample of 326 Lebanese adults completed measures of trait EI, wellbeing, psychological distress, coping, and meaning-centered coping. Results showed a strong positive correlation between trait EI and meaning-centered coping. Trait EI also correlated positively with wellbeing and negatively with psychological distress. Structural equation modeling showed that meaning-centered coping partially mediated the relationship between trait EI and wellbeing. Maladaptive coping fully mediated the relationship between trait EI and psychological distress. Findings indicate that trait EI is positively related to dealing with a stressful situation such as the pandemic in positive ways at both the cognitive level, by reformulating the situation to see something valuable in it, and behavioral level, by being proactive about it. Trait EI was positively linked to seeing the situation as an opportunity for personal growth, finding personal meaning in this situation, maintaining an attitude of hope and courage, and acting more responsibly with one's self and others during the current crisis. In turn, this coping formula was related to lower psychological distress and improved mental health. These results are consistent with the existential positive psychology framework and can inform implementation programs and policies aiming at raising awareness and promoting healthy and successful coping during the pandemic.

Impact of intrapersonal and interpersonal emotional intelligence and self-directed learning on academic performance among pre-university science students

Provision of equitable access to university education is the primary goal of pre-university education. Academically weak students stand to benefit more from pre-university program. However, available literature on effectiveness of the program revealed that high percentage of students still fail pre-university courses. Although the role of psycho-emotional factors on student academic performance has been highlighted, mechanism through which psycho-emotional factors impact on academic performance of pre-university science students is still not clear to offer adequate insights for proper intervention program. Therefore, we examined the pre-university students' academic performance in sciences in relation to Emotional Intelligence (EI) (Interpersonal EI and Intrapersonal EI) and Self-directed Learning (SDL). Specifically, a correlational study design was conducted to measure and gauge the level of relationships amongst Interpersonal EI, Intrapersonal EI, SDL and academic performance of pre-university students. The participants were 443 Nigerian students enrolled in pre-university science program. Students' self-report on EI and SDL were gathered and analyzed using SPSS 26 and AMOS 24. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were performed to determine cross-cultural validity of the instruments in the Nigerian context. After controlling for gender and age, the hierarchical regression analysis reveals that student academic performance was positively predicted by perceived Interpersonal and Intrapersonal EI, whereas self-directed learning has an inconsistent predictive impact at different steps in the model. Overall, the predictor variables were able to explain substantial proportion of students’ academic performance in pre-university program. Insightful suggestions were made.

The Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire in Lebanon and the UK: A comparison of the psychometric properties in each country

The aim of this study was to validate the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue v. 1.5) in a Lebanese sample and compare its factorial structure to that of a UK sample. There were similar gender and age distributions in both samples as well as satisfactory structural reliabilities at the global, factor, and facet levels. Results from exploratory factor analysis showed a four-factor structure similar to that originally obtained by the author of the questionnaire. There were strong correlations between the factor scores derived from the two datasets (≥.90). Tucker congruence supported the similarity between the Lebanese and UK factors. Independent-samples t tests showed that Lebanese participants scored higher on the Sociability factor and the facets of self-esteem, social awareness and emotion perception, whereas UK participants scored higher on the facets of stress management, optimism and relationships. Gender differences are also reported, and recommendations for future research discussed.

A Model of Academic, Personality, and Emotion-Related Predictors of University Academic Performance

This paper investigates the relationships between personality (i.e., trait Emotional Intelligence - trait EI - and the Big Five) and academic performance (AP). Academic motivation, procrastination, and major satisfaction were also studied. The sample consisted of 201 Lebanese undergraduates. The model represented a good fit. There was a negative direct effect of procrastination on AP and positive direct effects of major satisfaction and absorption on AP. Trait EI showed a negative direct effect on procrastination and a positive direct effect on major satisfaction, which, in turn, significantly predicted AP. Also, conscientiousness indirectly predicted AP, via procrastination, major satisfaction, and absorption. Findings point at individual differences contributing to AP and can be helpful to students, educators, and counselors in higher education.

Predicting the Pursuit of Post-Secondary Education: Role of Trait Emotional Intelligence in a Longitudinal Study

Trait Emotional Intelligence (EI) is a constellation of emotional self-perceptions and dispositions related to perceiving, understanding, using, and managing emotions of self and others. Although higher trait EI has been implicated in post-secondary success among university students. There is lack of evidence for whether it predicts the pursuit of post-secondary education (PSE) in emerging adulthood. This was the first study to investigate the role of trait EI in PSE pursuit using a large, nationally-representative sample of Canadian young adults who participated in the National Longitudinal Survey for Children and Youth (NLSCY). Participants in this dataset reported on their PSE status at three biennial waves (age 20-21, 22-23, and 24-25), and completed a four-factor self-report scale for trait EI (Emotional Quotient Inventory: Mini) at ages 20-21 and 24-25. Higher trait EI subscale scores were significantly associated with greater likelihood of PSE participation both concurrently, and at 2- and 4-year follow-ups. Overall, these associations were larger for men than women. The finding that these links persisted over a multi-year period is particularly promising, as it represents an important validation step toward further investment in socioemotional competencies as part of youth development interventions.

Personality, emotion-related variables, and media pressure predict eating disorders via disordered eating in Lebanese university students

PURPOSE

Disordered eating behaviors are on the rise among youth. The present study investigates psychosocial and weight-related variables as predictors of eating disorders (ED) through disordered eating (DE) dimensions (namely restrained, external, and emotional eating) in Lebanese university students.

METHODS

The sample consisted of 244 undergraduates (143 female) aged from 18 to 31 years (M = 20.06; SD = 1.67). Using path analysis, two statistical models were built separately with restrained and emotional eating as dependent variables, and all possible direct and indirect pathways were tested for mediating effects. The variables tested for were media influence, perfectionism, trait emotional intelligence, and the Big Five dimensions.

RESULTS

In the first model, media pressure, self-control, and extraversion predicted eating disorders via emotional eating. In the second model, media pressure and perfectionism predicted eating disorders via restrained eating.

DISCUSSION

Findings from this study provide an understanding of the dynamics between DE, ED, and key personality, emotion-related, and social factors in youth. Lastly, implications and recommendations for future studies are advanced.

An Investigation of the Psychometric Properties of the Chinese Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire Short Form (Chinese TEIQue-SF)

The present study examined the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire Short Form (TEIQue-SF). Analyses were performed using a sample of undergraduates (N = 585) recruited from four universities across China. Confirmatory factor analysis of the Chinese TEIQue-SF supported the one-factor structure of trait emotional intelligence. Measurement invariance analyses were conducted across the Chinese sample and a sample of Canadian undergraduate students (N = 638). Although the two samples demonstrated configural and partial metric invariance, scalar invariance was not found. Cross-cultural implications and explanations of the present findings, as well as suggestions for future research are discussed.

Emotional intelligence training intervention among trainee teachers: a quasi-experimental study

Background

Emotional intelligence (EI) has often been linked to improvements in professional performance. Indeed, generic competencies related to EI have been included in university curricula. However, learning EI involves significant time and effort on the part of students, and this may hinder the acquisition of specific content for each degree. In this study, an intervention to develop EI in higher education students is described and evaluated.

Methods

The intervention consisted of eight group sessions performed in a regular course aiming to increase EI. The sessions included strategies and training on perceiving and understanding one’s own emotions and others’ emotions, identifying and understanding the impact one’s own feelings in adopting decisions, expressing one’s own emotions and the stress experienced, and managing both one’s own emotions and emotions of others. Participants were 192 students studying for a Master of Primary Education degree. A quasi-experimental nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design was adopted. The effectiveness of the intervention was evaluated using multi-level analyses.

Results

The results showed a significant improvement in the EI of students in the experimental group compared with the control group.

Conclusions

This research demonstrates that it is possible to develop EI in higher education students, without hindering the acquisition of specific content competencies and, therefore, without interfering with their academic performance and without overburdening students with work outside the classroom.

Trial registration

The experiment has been registered in the Initial Deposit of the Spanish Center for Sociological Research (CIS). 7/6/2015. http://www.cis.es/cis/opencms/ES/index.html.

Coping related variables, cardiac vagal activity and working memory performance under pressure

The aim of this study was to assess the predictive role of coping related variables (trait emotional intelligence and reinvestment, challenge and threat appraisals and cardiac vagal activity) on cardiac vagal activity and working memory under low pressure (LP) and high pressure (HP) conditions. Participants (n = 49) completed trait questionnaires, the Decision Specific Reinvestment Scale, the Movement Specific Reinvestment Scale and Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire. They realized the automated span task, which tests working memory, under counterbalanced LP and HP conditions. Cardiac vagal activity measurements were taken at rest, task and post task for 5 min, along with self-reported ratings of stress. Upon completion of the task, self-report measures of motivation, stress appraisal, attention and perceived pressure were completed. Current findings suggest cardiac vagal activity at rest can predict cardiac vagal activity under pressure, decision reinvestment influences cardiac vagal activity in cognitive tasks under LP and working memory performance is predicted by task cardiac vagal activity in HP only. These results show the importance of combining both subjective and objective psychophysiological variables in performance prediction and strengthen the need for this approach to be adopted across samples.

Media, Technology Use, and Attitudes: Associations With Physical and Mental Well-Being in Youth With Implications for Evidence-Based Practice

BACKGROUND

Previous research has shown that the use of technology and media, in their different available forms, may have detrimental effects on the physical and mental well-being of adolescents and young adults.

AIMS

The present study aimed to investigate the use of different types of technology and media, attitudes toward them, and how they relate to physical and mental well-being in Lebanese university students.

METHODS

A descriptive, correlational, cross-sectional design was used. A sample of 244 undergraduates completed a self-report measuring media and technology use and attitudes, eating-related variables (e.g., healthy eating, body image dissatisfaction [BID], and eating disorders [EDs] risk), trait emotional intelligence (TEI), and psychopathology indicators (stress, anxiety, and depression).

RESULTS

The use of mobile phone multimedia (music, pictures, and videos) correlated with unhealthy eating and stress. Social media use was associated with BID, EDs risk, and the self-control construct of TEI. Anxiety of separation from technological devices and dependence on them was associated with increased BID, EDs risk, depression, and anxiety.

LINKING EVIDENCE TO ACTION

Practical implications are discussed in terms of setting limits and boundaries on technology use during childhood and adolescence, and encouraging healthy eating and physical activity at home and on college campuses. Moreover, social media could be used as a platform for intervention and prevention programs to decrease BID, EDs, depression, and anxiety.

Individual and social correlates of aggressive behavior in Lebanese undergraduates: The role of trait emotional intelligence

This study investigates the relationship between Aggressive Behavior and individual factors, namely trait Emotional Intelligence, personality dimensions, emotion regulation and self-worth, as well as social factors, namely accepting/rejecting parenting styles and exposure to violence. The sample consisted of 252 university students in Lebanon (154 females), from 16 to 30 years old. Results from hierarchical regression analyses (controlling for age and gender and in the presence of social and individual predictors) showed that the Self-control and Emotionality factors of trait Emotional Intelligence were significant negative predictors of Aggressive Behavior while controlling for age and gender and in the presence of social and individual predictors). Exposure to violence and openness to experience also predicted Aggressive Behavior. Implications for future research and limitations of the present study are discussed.

Family functioning and trait emotional intelligence among youth

This study explored the relationship between family functioning and trait emotional intelligence among 547 respondents, between the age of 16 and 24 years from Malaysia, Iran, China, Sudan, Somalia, Morocco, the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands. The questionnaires were Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale III and Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire Short Form. Pearson correlation analysis revealed a significant relationship between family functioning and trait emotional intelligence. The higher the family functioning, the higher the trait emotional intelligence among youths. The findings provide a deeper understanding in the field of family functioning and trait emotional intelligence and have implications for parents, administrators and child relationships dealing with trait emotional intelligence.

Secondary Level Achievement

Abstract. The study was developed in the context of Personality and Social Cognitive Theory with constructs that encapsulate non-intellective processes of academic achievement. The goal was to explore the role of the Five Factor Model (FFM) of personality in academic performance and to use this model as a reference point to test the incremental validity of two measures of Self-efficacy (Academic and Emotional) and an indicator of Absenteeism. Participants (N = 120) were comprised of 17-year-old male (n = 47) and female (n = 73) opportunistically sampled secondary level college students. A cross-sectional design was used to examine the relationship between the independent variables (FFM, Academic Self-efficacy, Emotional Self-efficacy, and Absenteeism) and the outcome variable, Grade Points Average (GPA). Correlation analysis found that four FFM factors and the two Self-efficacy measures were associated with GPA. In a hierarchical regression analysis, the FFM explained 22% variance on performance and the two Self-efficacy measures added 9% incremental variance followed by 3% for Absenteeism. Overall, the non-intellective constructs explain a substantial 34% variance on achievement and provide focal points for theoretical, empirical, and pedagogical evaluation. Moreover, they are suggestive of the pathways and processes that support learning, augment ability, and enhance achievement.

Developments in Trait Emotional Intelligence Research

Trait emotional intelligence (“trait EI”) concerns our perceptions of our emotional abilities, that is, how good we believe we are in terms of understanding, regulating, and expressing emotions in order to adapt to our environment and maintain well-being. In this article, we present succinct summaries of selected findings from research on (a) the location of trait EI in personality factor space, (b) the biological underpinnings of the construct, (c) indicative applications in the areas of clinical, health, social, educational, organizational, and developmental psychology, and (d) trait EI training. Findings to date suggest that individual differences in trait EI are a consistent predictor of human behavior across the life span.

The Role of Trait Emotional Intelligence in Academic Performance: Theoretical Overview and Empirical Update

Considerable debate still exists among scholars over the role of trait emotional intelligence (TEI) in academic performance. The dominant theoretical position is that TEI should be orthogonal or only weakly related to achievement; yet, there are strong theoretical reasons to believe that TEI plays a key role in performance. The purpose of the current article is to provide (a) an overview of the possible theoretical mechanisms linking TEI with achievement and (b) an update on empirical research examining this relationship. To elucidate these theoretical mechanisms, the overview draws on multiple theories of emotion and regulation, including TEI theory, social-functional accounts of emotion, and expectancy-value and psychobiological model of emotion and regulation. Although these theoretical accounts variously emphasize different variables as focal constructs, when taken together, they provide a comprehensive picture of the possible mechanisms linking TEI with achievement. In this regard, the article redresses the problem of vaguely specified theoretical links currently hampering progress in the field. The article closes with a consideration of directions for future research.

Emotional intelligence in sport and exercise: A systematic review

This review targets emotional intelligence (EI) in sport and physical activity. We systematically review the available literature and offer a sound theoretical integration of differing EI perspectives (the tripartite model of EI) before considering applied practice in the form of EI training. Our review identified 36 studies assessing EI in an athletic or physical activity context. EI has most often been conceptualized as a trait. In the context of sport performance, we found that EI relates to emotions, physiological stress responses, successful psychological skill usage, and more successful athletic performance. In the context of physical activity, we found that trait EI relates to physical activity levels and positive attitudes toward physical activity. There was a shortage of research into the EI of coaches, officials, and spectators, non-adult samples, and longitudinal and experimental methods. The tripartite model proposes that EI operates on three levels - knowledge, ability, and trait - and predicts an interplay between the different levels of EI. We present this framework as a promising alternative to trait and ability EI conceptualizations that can guide applied research and professional practice. Further research into EI training, measurement validation and cultural diversity is recommended.

Self-Report Assessments of Emotional Competencies

This Special Issue of the Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment offers a critical appraisal of the validity, applied utility, and limitations of self-report assessments of emotional competencies. Using self-concept theory as an integrative theoretical framework, this introductory editorial highlights key methodological and validity issues raised in the contributing articles: (a) distinction between emotional competence self-perceptions and objectively measured abilities, (b) effects of response biases and respondents’ age on the psychometric properties of self-reports, (c) importance of adopting a multi-dimensional assessment strategy, and (d) various aspects of construct validity (conceptual definitions and paradigms, gender differences, relationships with basic personality, mechanisms and scope of prediction). The added value of conceptualizing emotional competence self-reports as self-concepts (as proposed in this article) is illustrated in the discussion of practical implications, outstanding questions, and directions for future research on the meaning and uses of these assessments.