Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship of emotional intelligence with academic resilience. A sample of 400 students were taken from 10 different departments of the university of Malakand. These 10 departments were further accumulated into 3 faculties i.e. 1. Faculty of Physical Sciences, 2. Faculty of Social Sciences, 3. Faculty of Arts and Humanities.  Among these, 4 of the departments were taken from physical sciences, 3 from social sciences and 3 from arts and humanities. The data was collected through simple random sampling technique. The first instrument was an emotional intelligence scale which was self-report consisting of 45 items of Likert scale, second instrument was academic resilience scale of 27 items, self-report, Likert scale was used. Data was analyzed through SPSS by applying descriptive statistics and correlation between variable i.e. emotional intelligence and academic resilience. The study found positive correlation between emotional intelligence and academic resilience.    

Key Words

Academic Resilience, Emotional Intelligence, Correlation, Students, University of Malakand

Introduction

Recognizing, comprehending, and expressing emotions are important components of emotional intelligence which empower us to better understand, manage, and cogitate with emotions of oneself and that of others.  (Mayer et al, 2000). This concept of emotional intelligence is introduced for the 1st time by psychologist Daniel Goleman. In his book "Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ" (Goleman, 1995). 

Academic resilience refers to the ability of students to persist, adapt, and bounce back from challenges and adversities encountered in an academic setting. It involves the capacity to maintain motivation, cope with obstacles, utilize available support systems, and continue to engage in effective learning behaviors despite setbacks. Often, academic resilience is seen as an interaction between individuals and their environment, influenced by factors such as personal strengths, social support, and educational opportunities (Martin & Marsh, 2006) 

Emotional intelligence has been an important and debatable subject for over thirty years. In fact, with the passage of time emotional intelligence (EI) gained more attention and interest from researchers and educationists. The gap between emotional intelligence and the digital realm had a significant correlation in youngsters which shows the importance of emotional intelligence to be successful in the digitalized world. There is also a demand for this new era of digitalization to have high emotional intelligence in order to communicate through the screen.

The study suggested that universities and schools should try to work for the improvement of academic resilience as specifically during pandemics when students lose their family members and face financial crises (Dwiastuti, 2022). Those students who are high on academic resilience tend to be conditioned to various hindrances and return to those emotional circumstances that are experienced due to unfamiliar learning configurations (Hawkins & Mulkey, 2005).  

 A person must incorporate some qualities like empathy, warmth, and effective response while connecting with other people through media having diverse cultures but isolated from the physical world (Howe, 2020; Jain 2022). Students who can comprehend and interact with people successfully are more likely to form helpful bonds with peers, teachers, and mentors. These connections can act as a cushion against academic pressures and support students in maintaining their motivation and engagement (Hourani & Parkman 2020). 

One of the important elements of Emotional intelligence is self-knowledge (Richardson, 2012). It involves the capacity of a person in which he or she represents his or her mental state and role in society. The person's response to the environment is crucial this is why educational communities work on emotional intelligence to develop and enhance it for personal and social well-being (MacCann, 2019).

Students who are more inclined to endure academic problems may improve their skills and talents via effort and persistence. By encouraging a positive attitude towards mistakes and failures and assisting students in viewing setbacks as chances for learning and progress, emotional intelligence can assist students in developing their growth and personality (Hourani, & Parkman, 2020).  Knight's (2007) study found that an individual response to society, either psychologically or culturally greatly influences resilience, which is again a multifaced and complex process. Consequently, schools and universities are responsible for developing learners' capacities and building up their resilience to be successful (Thomsen, 2002) argued that educational institutions i.e. universities and schools have responsibilities to nourish and develop students’ abilities for better learning and resilience academically.

Emotional intelligence is positively correlated to academic performance (MacCann, 2019) During higher studies, university students go through many difficulties which develop anxiety and stress among them (Ubago-Jimenez et al., 2024).  Hence, students have to deal with adverse situations and negative emotions which ultimately lead them to be successful academically (Ubago-Jimenez et al., 2024). At the class level, teaching strategies were made to develop and improve higher emotional intelligence which ultimately developed resilience among students academically and will reduce anxiety and stress levels (Sánchez -´ Alvarez 2020).  On the other hand, a negative emotional state leads to several issues either psychological or physiological. Kalisch et al.  Found an association between positive appraisal styles with resilience which ought to be mediated through knowledge. Appraisal style obviously gets affected by knowledge e.g. a person might feel positive even in the worst and stressful situations and even be aware of overcoming aversiveness.

Students with higher emotional intelligence are observed to have more capabilities to cope with stressful situations and manage anxiety (Augusto-Landa, 2022) (García-Martínez, 2021). In this regard, authors such as García Martínez et al. (2021) have suggested that emotional intelligence and awareness programs that are planned to work on emotional regulations have better results as compared to ignoring these areas. Studies pinpointed that students with higher self-concept have higher achievements academically as self-concept relates to one's psychological well-being (Hansen, 2019; Tus, 2020). Usman Abubakar et al. (2021) investigated academic resilience with academic performance among students. The finding showed a moderate relationship between academic resilience with academic performance. However, the students with higher grades in studies showed a significant correlation between academic resilience with performance among students. 

The study suggested that universities and schools should try to work to improve academic resilience specifically during pandemics when students lose their family members and face financial crises (Dwiastuti, 2022)

Fear and anxiety play an important role while failure comes in a way that as a result shapes resilience buoyancy (Martin, 2009; Rose, 2020). Developing and shaping emotional stability among students will lead them to overcome their fears and failures. The study emphasized that schools around the world develop self-worth and well-being among the students.  Focusing on goals is also related to academic resilience (Martin, 2009; Rose, 2020).




Statement of the Problem

Students can acquire the resilience they need to overcome obstacles in academics and accomplish their goals by developing emotional intelligence (Trigueros, 2019). The link between Emotional and academic resilience may have real-world consequences for teachers, school administrators, and others involved in shaping education policy and practice (Adane, 2024). 

Objective of the Study

To find a correlation between emotional intelligence with academic resilience.




Hypothesis of the Study

H01: There is no significant correlation of emotional Intelligence with academic resilience.




Research Design

The study had correlational research designs.  The quantitative approach was used for the study. The study was descriptive research, and the survey method was used for data collection. The simple random sampling technique was used for data collection purposes. 




Population and Sample

The present study covers ten (10) departments of the University of Malakand. The population of the study includes around 9000 students of the University of Malakand. The sample of 400 students was taken randomly from 10 different departments. These 10 departments were taken from three faculties. 4 departments were taken from physical sciences, 3 departments from social sciences, and 3 from arts and literature respectively. Chemistry, Botany, Zoology, and Biochemistry were taken from physical sciences, Hotel Management, Economics, and Education were taken from social sciences Pashto, Urdu, and English were taken from Arts and literature.  So far, the student population is concerned, the study was confined to 400 students aged 19 to 23 from various departments having BS 4-year degree programs. 




Research Instruments 

The following research instruments were used for data collection.




Emotional Intelligence Scale EI. 

After a thorough review of related literature, previous scales, and consultation with teachers and students an emotional Intelligence scale was developed.  Emotional Intelligence Scale of a self-report measure of emotional intelligence. Different components and elements of emotional intelligence were kept in mind i.e., (appraisal of own emotions and others, Regulation of own emotions and others, Utilization of own emotions and of others). It consists of 45 items and works on 5-point Likert scoring. The scale was developed to get data and evaluate the students' emotional intelligence at the University of Malakand. The scale was data data-collecting tool for the study and was administered personally to the sample. The students' responses were carefully analyzed, calculated, and tabulated in light of the stated objectives of the study. The responses were collected on a 5-Likert scale: e.g. 1. Strongly disagree, 2. Disagree, 3. Neither disagree nor agree, 4. Agree, 5. Strongly agree. 

 




Some of the statements of the scale are as follows,

1. I am aware of my own emotions and feelings. 

??? ???? ????? ??? ??????? ?? ????? ???? ????

2. I can solve problems with the best alternative solutions.

??? ?????? ?????? ?? ?? ???? ????? ?? ?? ?? ???? ????

3. If someone gets upset from me, I handle it peacefully.

??? ???? ??? ?? ????? ???? ?? ?? ??? ??? ??????? ?? ?????? ???? ????

4. I can easily share my feelings and emotions.

??? ???? ??????? ??? ????? ?? ????? ?? ???? ?? ???? ????




Reverse scoring statements were included i.e.

1. I always feel something bad coming.

???? ????? ??? ??? ???? ???

2. I have difficulty expressing my emotions.

???? ???? ????? ?? ????? ???? ??? ?????? ???? ???




 

Academic Resilience Scale (ARS). 

The scale contained 27 items measuring three dimensions: perseverance, negative affect, emotional response, and reflecting and adaptive help-seeking. The academic Resilience scale was also developed by the researcher having a 27-item self-report Likert scale. The items were developed according to the dimensions of academic resilience i.e., perseverance, negative affect, emotional reactivity, self-reflection, help help-seeking behavior. Informed consent was included which demonstrated the purpose of the study along with the assurance that the data will only be used for the study purpose; to obtain essential demographic information of participants appropriate demographic details were included above each scale. The information consists of age, gender, education, and type of school system. They were guided at every step of filling out the scales. For this purpose, Urdu translated version of each scale was also used.  Some of the statements of the scale are as follows,

 




1. Through my hard work I can change my grades.

???? ???? ?? ??? ???? ????? ??? ???? ????

2. I monitor my different strategies for study.

??? ?????? ?? ??? ???? ????? ???? ?????? ?? ?????? ???? ????




Reverse scoring statements were as follows,

1. Mostly my teachers are the reason of my failures.

???? ???????? ?? ??? ????? ?? ???? ?????? ????

2. I get panic and dizzy during exams

???? ?????? ?? ????? ??????? ??? ??? ??? ???




 

Pilot Testing, Validity and Reliability

The scales were pilot tested on a sample of 30 students from the University of Swat students and no ambiguity was found in the scale Cronbach's alpha for EMIs was found for internal consistency, reliability and it was 0.8, C-Alpha for AM was 0.78 and C-Alpha for AR was 0.60, which were in acceptable range.




Inform Consent

The students were clearly told about the purpose of the research and its background. The students must have the option of voluntary participation. For this reason, they were told in detail and then asked to decide whether they were ready to share their opinion or not. No participant was harmed in any manner such as personally, emotionally, or professionally. The information shared by the participants was only used for the purpose of research. Not only the information but also the identity of participants was kept anonymous.

Data Analysis and Treatment of Data

The required data to meet the objectives were collected through administering the two scales. The two scales were the Emotional Intelligence Scale and the Academic Resilience Scale which were self-report 5-Likert scales developed by the researcher. SPSS software was used to analyze the collected data received from the survey. As the study follows a descriptive method and the data collected were mainly of quantitative type, descriptive statistics like 'Frequency', 'Percentage', 'Mean', and 'standard deviation’ were employed.  Pearson coefficient was used to investigate the correlation variables among analysis respectively. The scales range from 1 to 5. For all sections where a five-point response mode was employed, score 1 represents strongly disagree, 2 for Disagree, 3 showing Neither agree nor disagree, 4 for Agree, and 5 showing Strongly Agree responses.

Results and Discussion

The results are presented in the light of objectives. Coding and analysis were executed through the IBM SPSS. After validation and pilot study of the tool data were collected from selected samples. Data collected from the questionnaire were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics including mean, frequency, percentage, correlation, and t-test. A formal consent description was completed before getting students' opinions. The interpretations of data in the tables are as follows,

Table 1

Gender	N	Percentage
Female	204	51
Male	196	49
Total	400	1.1

Figure 1



A total 400 number of participants were selected from three faculties of the University of Malakand including Physical Sciences, Social Sciences, and Arts & Humanities. In which the female to male ratio is 51:49 as shown in Table 1 and Figure 1.  There were 156 participants from physical sciences, 103 from Social Sciences, and 141 from arts and humanities as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2



Table 2






Scales	Items	C-Alpha
Emotional Intelligence	45	0.812
Academic Resilience	27	0.60

The Reliability of Emotional intelligence 45-item scale and Academic resilience 27 Items scale were tested and shown in Table 2. It was found emotional intelligence has the highest reliability with a C-Alpha of 0.81, while the Academic Resilience scale has medium reliability with a C-Alpha of 0.6

Table 3



The data of 400 students for each scale i.e. Emotional Intelligence and Academic Resilience were collected. For descriptive statistics frequencies, mean mode, and standard deviation were taken.  A t-test was employed for further statistics.

Descriptive Statistics	N	Minimum	Maximum	Mean	Std. Deviation
The sum of Emotional Intelligence	400	87.00	213.00	157.6125	21.29604
Sum of Academic Resilience	400	42.00	150.00	98.2225	12.37420

Table 4






	Frequency	Percentage
Low Emotionally Intelligent	51	12.75
High Emotionally Intelligent	349	87.25

Through the median of the emotional intelligence scale, high intelligence and low intelligence were selected. The frequency of students having emotionally low intelligence was 51 whereas 349 were emotionally highly intelligent students among 400 students. Table 4 shows that 12.57% of students with low levels of emotional intelligence and 87.2% were highly emotionally intelligent.

Table 5






	Frequency	Percentage
Low Academic Resilience	24	6
High Academic Resilience	376	94

Through the median of the academic resilience scale, a high level of academic resilience and a low level of academic resilience were selected. The frequency of students having a low level of academic resilience intelligence was 24 whereas 376 were students with a high level of academic resilience among 400 students. Table 4 shows that 6% of students with low level of academic resilience and 94% have a high level of academic resilience.

Table 6









Emotional Intelligence	Academic Resilience
Pearson Correlation	.575**
P-value	0.000

The correlation between emotional intelligence and academic resilience is also positive. Table 6 shows a moderate level of correlation between the two variables. Null hypothesis H01, There is no significant correlation of emotional Intelligence with academic resilience is rejected and the alternative hypothesis is accepted. The significance level is 0.00 which is high. There was a moderate level of positive correlation between emotional intelligence and academic resilience. The null hypothesis Ho: There is no significant correlation between emotional Intelligence with academic resilience was rejected and the alternative hypothesis was accepted.
Students with higher emotional intelligence are observed to have more capabilities to cope with stressful situations and manage anxiety (Augusto-Landa, 2022; García-Martínez, 2021). These management tools allow students to better plan ahead in any bitter situation rather than give up easily which leads them to better results. In this regard, emotional intelligence plays a key role and acts as an important factor in students' academic achievements and higher studies directly or indirectly although there is an exception of other factors e.g. individual differences, mental and cognitive capacity for learning, and more resilience in the worst situation (Weissberg, 2019). 
Hiver and Solarte (2021) study lightened the term "resilience" as an important role in literature. This research argued that different factors e.g. adaptation, and coping in spite of adversities are much more effective for students in academic settings which ultimately maximize possibilities of progress and minimize negative outcomes. Studies more focused on social support which includes family, school, and peers as an important factor for academic resilience which ultimately brings success in academic performance. Therefore teachers, educationists, and Policymakers should develop different policies for academic resilience. 

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