Wafa Hanad 2022 bhdvfygabrncbuewhrctfccvybfru

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International Journal of Africa Nursing Sciences 17 (2022) 100491

Available online 12 October 2022

Correlation between emotional intelligence and academic achievement among undergraduate nursing students

Wafa Hamad ALmegewly

^a

, Amal Rawdhan

^b

, Marwah Saleh

^b

, Mona Alrimal

^b

, Rahaf Alasmari

^b

, Shahad Alhamad

^b

, Reyuof Almuqri

^b

, Morooj Aljebreen

^b

, Haya Alsubaie

^b

,

Sally Mohammed Farghaly Abdelaliem

^c^,^d^,^*

aDepartment of Community Health Nursing, College of Nursing, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia

bCollege of Nursing, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

cNursing Management and Education Department, College of Nursing, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

dNursing Administration Department, Faculty of Nursing, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt

A R T I C L E I N F O Keywords:

Emotional intelligence Academic achievement Nursing students

A B S T R A C T

Background: Emotional intelligence has become an appropriate critical base within the educational and health care field. Emotional intelligence is recognized as more than a collection of professional abilities or competencies that affect students’ ability in managing their emotions.

Purpose: The aim of the current study is to examine the correlation between emotional intelligence and academic achievement among undergraduate nursing students.

Methods: A quantitative descriptive correlational design was conducted using a convenience sample of nursing students (n =204) from all levels in nursing college at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh.

The used scale was Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence scale.

Results: Emotional intelligence (r =0.279) was significantly correlated (<0.001) with academic achievement among undergraduate nursing students. Conclusions: Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University nursing students with excellent academic achievement had a high level of emotional intelligence.

1. Introduction

High level of emotional intelligence necessary for the profession of nursing. Emotional intelligence now becomes a collection of needed capabilities for the workplace (Thomas et al., 2021). However, traditional nursing bachelor’s program admittance criteria focus on academic scores, but the student’s emotions ability is not assessed (Smith, 2016). Crawford et al. (2021) recommend that the admissions exami- nation should not be used as the only factor for determination of acceptance into the nursing program.

Emotional intelligence is fundamental to all basic nursing education programs and professions. Using emotional intelligence in nursing is highly essential because it help nurses how to deal with stress, emotions, relationship with either patients, families, other healthcare providers.

Having high emotional intelligence might help the nurse in maintaining

and improving self-control and self-confidence (Smith, 2016). Also, through using emotional intelligence include cognitive, and physiolog- ical behaviors, students can affectively interact and respond to the learning environment (Aparicio-Flores et al., 2021).

The idea that academic achievement is related to social and emotional adjustment to the school environment has recently received considerable attention from the fields of economics, social and emotional learning, and positive psychology (Gotz et al., 2005; Kyllonen ¨ et al., 2014). Educational success requires self-regulated learning practices, sustained effort, managing time demands and academic stress, as well as successfully navigating the social landscape. Two constructs hypothesized to affect academic achievement through these social and motivational pathways are emotional intelligence (EI) and coping styles.

The initial focus of research in this area was on the relationship between EI and academic achievement (Ladrazo et al., 2013) and between EI and

* Corresponding author at: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

E-mail addresses: [email protected] (W.H. ALmegewly), [email protected] (A. Rawdhan), [email protected] (M. Saleh), 436002057@pnu.

edu.sa (M. Alrimal), [email protected] (R. Alasmari), [email protected] (S. Alhamad), [email protected] (R. Almuqri), [email protected] (M. Aljebreen), [email protected] (H. Alsubaie), [email protected], [email protected] (S.M. Farghaly Abdelaliem).

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

International Journal of Africa Nursing Sciences

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijans

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijans.2022.100491

Received 27 August 2020; Received in revised form 9 September 2022; Accepted 5 October 2022

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coping (Waheed & Ghazal, 2020). More recent studies of EI in educational settings have begun to explore the ways in which cognitive ability, EI, coping, and related variables interact to influence performance outcomes (Poole, 2019).

Research attests that both ability and trait measures of EI relate to academic success (Dasborough, 2019; England & Nagel, 2022;

Cherkowskiet al., 2021). Research further suggests that the different component branches within ability EI show different levels of relationship to achievement. Perception of emotions and the use of emotions to facilitate thought show little relationship to academic success, whereas understanding and managing emotions are clearly linked with academic achievement, with the strongest relationship for emotional understanding (Costa & Faria, 2020; Romano et al., 2020). There are several possible pathways by which emotional intelligence may influence academic achievement (). First, students who can regulate their negative emotions may be less impaired by negative emotions in assessment and learning situations. Depending on the degree of emotional control they possess, such students may even be able to generate positive emotions that facilitate performance (Aparicio-Flores et al., 2021). Second, academic success requires not just passing tests, but increasingly requires collaboration in the form of group projects and presentations (Smith, 2016). EI, particularly emotion management, has been linked with better social relationships, such that high EI individuals may be better able to maintain the social relationships required for effective group work (England & Nagel, 2022; Cherkowskiet al., 2021). Third, the ability to make connections and maintain social relationships may be important not only for gaining high grades on group assessments, but more generally for maintaining social support and well-being in the educational environment (Waheed & Ghazal, 2020). At the procedural level, all three of these pathways suggest that higher EI should predict grades through the ability to cope with stressors such as assessment, the dynamics of group collaboration, or the social and emotional demands of academic life.

There is continued interest in the value of emotional intelligence in adding the structure in nursing education programs (Crawford et al., 2021; Smith, 2016). As emotional intelligence works as a predictor of academic performance. A cross-sectional prospective study done in Israel to examin the relationship between emotional intelligence scores and the traditional academic admission criteria Grade Point Average and evaluation methods of a baccalaureate nursing program (Sharon &

Grinberg, 2018). The sample was 110 students divide to first year students (n =64) versus second students (n =46). The latter authors found a positive correlation between the level of emotional intelligence and the degree of success in nursing studies. However, the study was conducted in one academic center nursing program and selected students, therefore it may not be generalized to other programs as well as to all students’ academic levels.

Two descriptive correlational studies were conducted in UK among nursing students (n =333, n =72) respectively (Di Fabio & Saklofske, 2021; Benington et al., 2020) examined the relationship between emotional intelligence and nursing performance. The results showed that academic achievement is significantly correlate with emotional intelligence scores. The first study was limited by using two websites and it could be confusing to some student. While the other study was not representative because the focused was only Caucasian female.

Inconsistent some research assumed that there is no relationship between emotional intelligence and academic achievement (Cheshire et al., 2015; Roso-Bas et al., 2015). A study done on baccalaureate nursing students in the US, demonstrated that there is no significant relationship between emotional intelligence and students’ academic achievement (Cheshire et al., 2015). Also, in Spain, a study explored the relationship between variables of the emotional domain and academic performance among third year nursing students. It suggested that there is no significant relationship between emotional intelligence and academic performance (Roso-Bas et al., 2015).

1.1. The research problem

There is little study on the role of emotional intelligence on academic accomplishment. This is due to two key factors. First, the concept of emotional intelligence is still being researched among nursing students (Satuf et al., 2020). Second, more than a century of study on general intelligence and cognitive performance has obscured the impact of emotion and other noncognitive elements in academic accomplishment.

This has led educators to agree that cognitive criteria, such as a high GPA and scores on IQ and aptitude tests, best predict student achievement in college. Despite their IQ or past academic success, many students fail to live up to their real potential. Some individuals with dismal high school marks, on the other hand, finish a college degree. Both of these instances imply that other elements, particularly noncognitive factors, are at work. As a result, the purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of emotional intelligence in academic accomplishment.

1.2. Significance of the study

This study contributes significantly to the increasing corpus of scholarship on emotional intelligence. It also helps to bridge a gap in the literature on emotional intelligence and academic success. Emotional intelligence has been studied in relation to a variety of variables, including employment success (Shi and Du, 2020), life success (Moeller et al., 2020), occupational stress (England & Nagel, 2022;

Cherkowskiet al., 2021), midlife resilience in schoolboys with low intelligence (Crawford et al., 2021), and others. However, research linking emotional intelligence to academic accomplishment is limited (Roso-Bas et al., 2015). As a result, the purpose of this study was to determine whether such a link exists, as well as to describe the nature and scope of such association. It’s likely that the literature on emotional intelligence and academic accomplishment is thin because previous research failed to find a link between emotional qualities and academic ability. How- ever, many emotional attributes were placed under the wider term

“personality” rather than intellect in previous research.

In today’s world, education is becoming more diverse, and there is fierce rivalry among students to achieve. Students find it challenging to manage their emotions when confronted with varied scenarios in school.

To keep up with the demands of the world, it is critical to handle stress and strain. Emotion management is critical for improved performance.

Even after they have entered the sector of their choice, their academic performance is woefully inadequate. Emotional indicators can better predict academic success. Parents and instructors are constantly focused on academic accomplishment by cultivating intellect, and they place the tiniest significance on their children’s emotions. A student’s emotions can impact him or her in a variety of ways. Intelligence can assist students in obtaining topic information, but only emotional intelligence can enhance their learning competence and turn them into efficient and successful learners. As a result, the goal of this study is to investigate the association between emotional intelligence and academic achievement in undergraduate nursing students. The study also addressed the following research questions: “What are the patterns of emotional intelligence for Saudi nursing students at Princess Nourah bint Abdul- rahman University in Riyadh?” and “What is the relationship between emotional intelligence and academic achievement?” Furthermore, the study hypothesis stated that there is a significant positive relationship between emotional intelligence and academic achievement.

2. Methods

2.1. Research design, setting and sample

This is a quantitative descriptive correlational design implemented to determine the relationship between nursing student’s emotional intelligence and their academic achievement at college of Nursing in

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Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia during the academic 2018/2019 year. The population for this study included baccalaureate nursing students who were enrolled in the level 5 to level 8 practices from Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman Univer- sity, because these students have a clinical experience and became more experienced with the nature of the educational environment and have a channel of communication in their educational assignments and activities. To obtain the data, Grade Point Average was being used to measure their academic achievement. The total number of registered students are 418, The sample size was estimated using Epi-info 7 based on a 5 % variance, 95 % confidence, and 0.80 power at a 0.5 significance level of a convenient sample of females nursing students who were available and agree to participate at that time.

2.2. Measurement

Data was collected by using a validated Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence scale (SSREI). According to Satuf et al. (2020) the emotional intelligence scale is including 33 items are those based on four factors. The four factors were described as follows: Perception of Emotion (items,1–10), Managing Own Emotions (items,11–20), Man- aging Others‟ Emotions (items, 21–27), and Utilization of Emotion (items, 28–33). Responses were measured on a five-point Likert scale ranging from (1) strongly disagree to (5) strongly agree. Scores were calculated for each of the four subscales by average scores of the re- spondents, possible scores ranging from (1–5). The overall score was calculated by summing up and averaging 33 items score with possible average ranged from 33 to 165, and the higher scores indicating more characteristic emotional intelligence. The Grade Point Average was classified as following: Accept (2.0–2.74), Good (2.75 – 3.74), Very Good (3.75 – 4.49), and Excellent (4.50 – 5.0).

2.3. Data gathering procedure

The data was collected via distributing the survey online through google form to students’ email. The data was collected with the consent of the nursing students during the agreed break period. The time required to fill out the questionnaires was 10 min. Data collection over two months. There was no missed data as the data collection was completed after reaching to the calculated sample size (n =204).

2.4. Validity and reliability

The tool of the study was established in the English language and verified for face and content validity, and relevance by five academic experts. There have been several changes to the survey, accordingly.

Also, the survey was tested for reliability by evaluating the items’ in- ternal consistency using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient test. The tools verified reliable where α =0.953. Also, pilot study was conducted on a sample of nursing students to sustain the validity and reliability of the survey. The test–retest reliability was done on 10 % of students who were not included in the study sample to investigate the questionnaire’ stability over time and showed a high positive significant correlation (r ranged from 0.787 to 0.869).

2.5. Statistical analysis

Data were coded and fed to the statistical package of social science (IBM SPSS, 2019), version 22. Frequencies and percentages were used for quantifying the studied variables, mean and standard deviation (SD) were used to present continuous variables. Pearson correlation coefficient analysis (r) was used to test the nature of the relationship between emotional intelligence and academic achievement among undergraduate nursing students. (ANOVA) is ananalysistool used to test variance that splits an observed aggregate variability found inside a data set. All statistical analyses were performed using an alpha of 0.05. Regarding

the statistical scoring system of the emotional intelligence was as following; High emotional intelligence: (66.7 %–100 %), Moderate emotional intelligence: (33.4 %–66.6 %), Low emotional intelligence:

(0 %–33.3 %) (Akoglu, 2018; Li et al., 2021; Satuf et al., 2020).

2.6. Ethical consideration

In this study, ethical approval was obtained from Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman. subjects were voluntary participated after being informed of the precautions that was taken to protect the confidentiality of the data. Security measures were implemented when the data is stored and analyzed. The information that identifies the student were removed for example name, email. The Nursing student who participated in this study were aware of the nature and purpose of the research project by sharing the information sheet and consent form.

3. Results

Students’ demographic characteristics reveals that 100 % of the study subjects were in the age group of 20–>25 years old. 100 % of students were females. For marital status, all students were single.

Regarding clinical speciality of study at time of data collection, 29.90 % of students were studying a clinical speciality of Psychiatric Nursing and 26.96 % of nursing students were studying Critical Care Nursing. While 22.06 % and 21.08 % of nursing students were studying a clinical speciality of Pediatric and Midwifery Nursing, respectively (Table 1).

Table 2 shows the Grade Point Average levels of the nursing students.

There are 59.3 % (n =121) of nursing students performed between 3.75 and 4.49 which means that majority of them are academically above average. While 31.9 % (n =65) of them performed between 2.75 and 3.74 which means that these students performed average academically, as well there are only 2.5 % (n =5) with Grade Point Average between 2.00 and 2.74 who performed poorly, and on the other hand also very few 6.3 % (n =13) who performed excellent with Grade Point Average between 4.50 to 5.00. Table 3 clarified that the overall emotional intelligence among nursing students was high (69.84 ±11.72); as the highest mean percent score was related to nursing students’ perception regarding the emotional intelligence pattern of managing other emotions (71.31 ±14.29), while the lowest mean percent score was related to nursing students’ perception regarding the emotional intelligence pattern of utilization of emotion (67.79 ±16.43). Table 4 showed that a small significant positive correlation was found between nursing students’ overall emotional intelligence and their Grade Point Average where P=<0.001, while there was a medium significant positive correlation was found between nursing students’ Grade Point Average and each of (Perception of emotion, managing own emotions, Managing other emotions, and Utilization of emotion) as P= (<0.001, 0.003, 0.002, and 0.001) respectively. As well as the perception of emotion pattern of emotional intelligence had a higher correlational value of Grade Point Average (r =0.316), while the Managing own emotions pattern had the lowest correlational value of Grade Point Average (r = Table 1

Demographic Characteristics of the Study Subjects.

Demographic Characteristics No. %

Age

20->25 years old 204 100

Gender

Female 204 100

Marital Status

Single 204 100

Clinical Speciality at time of data collection

Pediatric Nursing (Level 5) 45 22.06

Midwifery Nursing (Level 6) 43 21.08

Critical care Nursing (Level 7) 55 26.96

Psychiatric Nursing (Level 8) 61 29.90

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0.205). Table 5 clarified that there was a significant difference between overall emotional intelligence and its patterns; Perception of emotion, managing own emotions, Managing other emotions and Utilization of emotion, and all levels of nursing students’ Grade Point Average where (p-value<0.0001) and its patterns. Also, the results showed that nursing students with below average performance achievement had moderate emotional intelligence (59.39 ±8.65), as the highest perception level

was regarding perception of emotion pattern of emotional intelligence (61.60 ±7.13) and the lowest perception was regarding utilization of emotion pattern of emotional intelligence (56.0 ±14.79). While nursing students with average Grade Point Average had a high emotional intelligence (68.35 ±8.77) as the highest perception level was regarding managing other emotions pattern of emotional intelligence (70.77 ± 12.43) and the lowest perception was regarding utilization of emotion pattern of emotional intelligence (65.18 ±9.58). As well as nursing students with above average Grade Point Average had a high emotional intelligence (69.57 ± 12.18), as the highest perception level was regarding perception of emotion pattern of emotional intelligence (70.60 ±13.08) and the lowest perception was regarding utilization of emotion pattern of emotional intelligence (68.35 ±19.05). On the other hand, nursing students with high average Grade Point Average had a high emotional intelligence (86.53 ±6.83), as the highest perception level was regarding managing other emotions pattern of emotional intelligence (90.38 ±8.16) and the lowest perception was regarding utilization of emotion pattern of emotional intelligence (80.26 ±10.40).

The post hoc power analysis (1 − β) for the overall emotional intelligence was 0.130. The results further shows that the students with excellent academic performance have the most stable emotional intelligence and most efficient management of emotions. The other groups of the students with lower level of academic performance show lower level of emotional intelligence.

4. Discussion

Emotional intelligence is differentiated from other intelligence as it deals with the management of emotions and, therefore, specifically describes the complex process that links emotion and cognition. This study aimed to examine the correlation between emotional intelligence and academic achievement among undergraduate nursing students. Our findings showed presence of positive association between emotional intelligence and better academic achievement, similar to previous literature (Sharon & Grinberg, 2018; Prakoso & Farozin, 2020; Halimi et al., 2020). On the other hand, other studies conducted among Spanish nursing students, and students from Alabama university revealed absence of such association (Roso-Bas et al., 2015; Cheshire et al., 2015).

The majority of participant’s (n =121; 59.3 % in Table 2) Grade Point Average was between (3.75–4.49) which reflects (Very good).

Dimitrov and Vazova (2020) proposed that emotional intelligence can predict academic success better than traditional measures of intelligence. The results showed that the perception of emotions has the highest score inand they got the lower score in “utilization of emotions”. Similarly, a study investigates the relations between components of emotional intelligence and students’ academic achievement of high Table 2

Frequency and Percentage distribution of the Students’ Grade Point Average.

Grade Point Average No. %

(Below average) Accept (2.0 – 2.74) 5 2.5

(Average) Good (2. 75 – 3.74) 65 31.9

(Above average) Very good (3. 75–4.49) 121 59.3

(High) Excellent (4. 50 – 5.0) 13 6.3

Table 3

Descriptive analysis of the studied students according to mean percent score of emotional intelligence and its patterns (n =204).

Emotional Intelligence Patterns Min. – Max. Mean% ± SD.

Perception of emotion 28.0 – 106.0 70.53 ±12.98 Managing own emotions 20.0 – 128.9 69.73 ±14.44 Managing others’ emotions 20.0 – 105.0 71.31 ±14.29 Utilization of emotion 20.0 – 226.7 67.79 ±16.43 Overall emotional intelligence 22.42 – 100.0 69.84 ±11.72 High emotional intelligence: (66.7%-100%).

Moderate emotional intelligence: (33.4%-66.6%).

Low emotional intelligence: (0%–33.3%) (Li et al., 2021).

Table 4

Correlation between GPA and emotional intelligence pattern (n =204).

Emotional intelligence

patterns Grade Point

Average Post Hoc Power

Analysis

rs p Power (1 − β)

Perception of emotion 0.316 <0.001^*** 0.194 Managing own emotions 0.205 0.003^*** 0.097 Managing others’ emotions 0.219 0.002^*** 0.091 Utilization of emotion 0.234 0.001^*** 0.075 Overall Emotional

Intelligence 0.279 <0.001^*** 0.130

rs: Spearman coefficient: small (r ¼0.1); medium (r ¼0.3); large (r ¼0.4) and bigger (>0.4) (Akoglu, 2018).

* Statistically significant P value at level <0.05.

** Statistically significant P value at level <0.01.

*** Statistically significant P value at level <0.001.

Table 5

Relation between Emotional intelligence patterns and students’ Grade Point Average levels (n =204).

Mean percent score of emotional intelligence patterns Grade Point Average F p

Accept Below Average (2.0 – 2.74)

Good Average (2. 75 – 3.74)

Very good Above Average (3. 75–4.49)

Excellent High Average (4. 50 – 5.0)

Perception of emotion 61.60 ±7.13 67.88 ±11.85 70.60 ±13.08 86.62 ±4.72 9.383 <0.001^***

Managing own emotions 60.0 ±5.88 68.75 ±13.11 68.78 ±14.51 87.18 ±10.43 8.139 <0.001^***

Managing others emotions 58.50 ±11.81 70.77 ±12.43 70.08 ±14.28 90.38 ±8.16 10.740 <0.001^***

Utilization of emotion 56.0 ±14.79 65.18 ±9.58 68.35 ±19.05 80.26 ±10.40 4.131 0.007^***

Overall Emotional Intelligence 59.39 ±8.65 68.35 ±8.77 69.57 ±12.18 86.53 ±6.83 12.190 <0.001^***

F: F for ANOVA test.

p: p value for association between different categories.

* Statistically significant P value at level <0.05.

** Statistically significant P value at level <0.01.

*** Statistically significant P value at level <0.001.

High emotional intelligence: (66.7%-100%).

Moderate emotional intelligence: (33.4%-66.6%).

Low emotional intelligence: (0%–33.3%) (Li et al., 2021).

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schools in Tehran city (Fteiha & Awwad, 2020). Results of the study conducted by Kumar (2020) showed that there is a significant correlation between main components of emotional intelligence including self- motivation, self-awareness, self-regulation, social consciousness, social skills, and students’ academic achievement.

Students with high level of emotional intelligence, can manage their own and others emotion as well as act on and understand own emotions.

Also, students with high Grade Point Average are able to manage conflict and are more success in their life than those with moderate to low level emotional intelligence. Therefore, students who have low to moderate level need to develop themselves in the main four components of emotional intelligence to have high level for both Grade Point Average and emotional intelligence. Generally, all the participants regardless of their Grade Point Average were having the higher score in

“perception of emotions” and the lower score in “utilization of emotions”, especially those from level 8. This is in line with the findings of (Li, 2020; Romano et al., 2020; Bibi et al., 2020) that showed that when students become older, they become more emotionally intelligent.

Similarly, life experiences of individuals increase with age, with time they become more sensitive to their own feelings and to those of others, and able to better head and manage the healthcare team, finally leading to the provision of better healthcare to the patient (Romano et al., 2020).

On the other hand, students’ awareness of their negative emotions due to problem at home, had a higher self-awareness and sensitivity to suffering which might eventually affect their bedside manner and patient handling skills (Kumar, 2020).

In regard to students lower score in utilization of emotions, recent research in UK was showed that emotion utilization can be decrease due to the increase in the total workload hours (Li, 2020). People who have more working hours they have less time for them self to spend on rec- reational activities, relaxation, and sleep. this may result in individual being unable to effectively manage emotions (Kumar, 2020).

5. Limitations of the study

The study was completed in one university program in Riyadh that would undoubtedly generalized to another program. Although the program would have met national standards, the decisions taken on the outcomes of the program might be assessed locally and in a specific set of protocols that may not be applied in other institutions. The current study was conducted among female students and the majority of them (n =61, 29.90 %) were from level 8 because of their accessibility. Also, the nature of the study and its focus on studying the correlation between emotional intelligence and Grade Point Average only might be missed other factors such as stress perception or lifestyle behaviors and culture.

Conducting a research for novice researchers like us was challenging experience specially with the time limits.

6. Recommendations

The study showed that emotional intelligence has positive impact on students’ academic achievement and their critical thinking skills.

Therefore, it is important to educate and train nurses and academic faculties on emotional intelligence skills to control their feelings and improve their relationships with patients and healthcare staff.

In terms of the future research, emotional intelligence needs to be further investigated in relation to the culture impact, clinical judgment skills, and environmental factors. Experimental studies could be an add to assess the level of emotional intelligence after applying emotional intelligence educational workshops. Also, qualitative studies could be an option to study the experience of using emotional intelligence in clinical judgment and decision making. In terms of education, emotional intelligence training should be started during undergraduate study to pre- pare nursing students on how to dealing with negative emotion and managing them.

7. Conclusions

These study measurers the correlation between emotional intelligence and academic achievement among undergraduate nursing students in Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University. Results of the present study demonstrates a small positive correlation (r =0.279) between between Grade Point Average and emotional intelligence which is statistical significant (p<0.001). As hypothesized in the present research, there is a positive significant correlation between emotional intelligence and academic achievement and it was accepted. Unlike below average Grade Point, emotionality maybe influences and interact with emotion utilization.

Author Contributions

All authors have substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation, drafting and revising the article. Sally M. Farghaly is responsible for the final manuscript draft and correspondence.

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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