Students' Emotional Intelligence Characteristics as Correlate of Academic Performance in Basic English Language and Mathematics in Osun State Public Secondary Schools, Nigeria

Abstract

The study correlated students' emotional intelligence characteristics with academic performance in Basic English language and Mathematics in public senior secondary schools in Osun State. It determined if any of the identified emotional intelligence characteristics is a predictor of students' academic performance in the subjects. It finally determined if there is relationship between students' emotional intelligence and academic performance in the schools. The population of the study comprised all senior secondary school students in public schools in the state. Five hundred senior secondary school students were selected across 10 senior secondary schools from two local government areas using convenient sampling technique. The local government areas were purposively selected based on perceived high drop-out rate among the students. Emotional Intelligence Characteristics Questionnaire (EICQ) and Basic English Language and Mathematics Achievement Test (BEMAT) were the two instruments used for data gathering for the study. The reliability of EICQ using split – half method and Cronbach – alpha statistical analysis was 0.79 while the reliability of BEMAT using test retest and Pearson product moment correlation coefficient analysis was 0.82. Analysis of the results gather from the respondents revealed that self assessment is the major predictor of students' academic performance (R² = 0.65; p < 0.05) and also that students' emotional intelligence is positively correlated with academic performance (r = 0.863 at 0.01level of significant). Findings from the results also showed that both the students' emotional intelligence and the students' academic performance were generally low. The study concluded that emotional intelligence has direct relationship with students' academic performance in Osun State public senior secondary schools.