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Cited by 1,121Emotional Intelligence and PerformanceSocial Skills and EducationEducation, Achievement, and Giftedness

Emotional intelligence predicts academic performance: a meta-analysis

Open access
MacCann, Carolyn, Jiang, Yixin, Brown, Luke E. R., Double, Kit S., Bucich, Micaela, Minbashian, Amirali·2020·Psychological Bulletin
DOI 10.1037/bul0000219

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Abstract

Schools and universities devote considerable time and resources to developing students’ social and emotional skills such as emotional intelligence (EI). The goals of such programs are partly for personal development but partly to increase academic performance. The current meta-analysis examines the degree to which student EI is associated with academic performance. We found an overall effect of ρ = .20 using robust variance estimation (N = 42,529, k = 1,246 from 158 citations). The association is significantly stronger for ability EI (ρ = .24, k = 50) compared to self-rated (ρ = .12, k = 33) or mixed EI (ρ = .19, k = 90). Ability, self-rated and mixed EI explained an additional 1.7%, 0.7% and 2.3% of the variance respectively, after controlling for intelligence and big five personality. Understanding and management branches of ability EI explained an additional 3.9% and 3.6% respectively. Relative importance analysis suggests that EI is the third most important predictor for all three streams, after intelligence and conscientiousness. Moderators of the effect differed across the three EI streams. Ability EI was a stronger predictor of performance in humanities than science. Self-rated EI was a stronger predictor of grades than standardized test scores. We propose that three mechanisms underlie the EI/academic performance link: (a) regulating academic emotions, (b) building social relationships at school, and (c) academic content overlap with EI. Different streams of EI may affect performance through different mechanisms. We note some limitations, including the lack of evidence for a causal direction.

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Crossref · 10.1037/bul0000219

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  • We expect that emotion regulation facilitates knowledge acquisition independently of the topic of AI, explaining this correlation separately from AI self-competency.

    “Instead, we expect that emotion regulation facilitates knowledge acquisition independently of the topic of AI [35] explaining this correlation separately from AI self-competency.”

    From Meta AI literacy scale: Further validation and development of a short version (2024) · cites this paper as [35]

  • The correlation of emotion regulation with the AI literacy test scores might be due to emotion regulation being important for knowledge acquisition independently of the topic of AI.

    “Presumably, this might be due to the circumstance that emotion regulation is considered to be important for knowledge acquisition independently of the topic of AI [35].”

    From Meta AI literacy scale: Further validation and development of a short version (2024) · cites this paper as [35]

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Authors
MacCann, C., Jiang, Y., Brown, L. E. R., Double, K. S., Bucich, M., & Minbashian, A.
Affiliations
The University of Sydney (AU)
Corresponding author
MacCann, Carolyn
ORCID
Venue
Psychological Bulletin
Publisher
American Psychological Association (APA)
Published
2020-02
Volume
146
Issue
2
Pages
150-186
ISSN
  • 0033-2909 (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-1455
DOI
10.1037/bul0000219
OpenAlex
W2995459594
Cited by
1,121
References
22
Citations by year
2026: 253 · 2025: 205 · 2024: 211 · 2023: 151 · 2022: 136 · 2021: 118 · 2020: 46 · 2019: 1
FWCI
89.15
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Psychological Bulletin (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Oxford University Research Archive (ORA) (University of Oxford) (acceptedVersion, public-domain)
  • OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
  • PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
  • PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • UNSWorks (University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Funders
Australian Research Council (DP150101158)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotional Intelligence and Performance
  • Social Sciences › Education › Social Skills and Education
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Education, Achievement, and Giftedness
Keywords
emotional intelligence, academic performance, ability emotional intelligence, academic emotions, emotion regulation, conscientiousness, intelligence, standardized test scores, humanities versus sciences
MeSH terms
Academic Performance, Emotions, Humans, Students, Emotional Intelligence

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