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European Online Journal of Natural and Social Sciences 2013; www.european-science.

com
vol.2, No.2, pp.216-222 ISSN 1805-3602

The relationship between emotional intelligence and academic


achievement among Iranian students in elementary schools
Mahsome Azimifar
Department of Literature, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran

Received for publication: 25 January 2013.


Accepted for publication: 21 March 2013.

Abstract In education, emotions have been considered as


supplementary for learning process. Recent research
The purpose of this study was to investigate the (Elias, 2004), however, has started to indicate that
relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and Emotional Intelligence (EI) can be considered as a
academic achievement in among Iranian students in necessary component of any educational society. EI
elementary schools. Emotional intelligence compe- has been defined by Elias as a set of skills necessary
tencies were measured using the Six Seconds Emo- for effective social interaction and classroom suc-
tional Intelligence Assessment for Youth (SEI-YV). cess: (a) emotional recognition and regulation, (b)
The SEI-YV is a self-report instrument that provides self-control, (c) goal setting, (d) social responsibili-
scores on three composite measures of EI, eight EI ty, (e) empathy, (i) problem solving, (g) conflict res-
competencies, and five barometers of health. Aca- olution, and (h) skills needed for leadership and ef-
demic achievement scores were measured by using a fective group participation.
standard achievement test in Mathematics, and Sci- An increased interest in research in the area of
ence. Fifty students from two elementary schools in emotional intelligence has led to a quest for a strong
Tehran, whose teachers were instructed to teach EI empirical case connecting the measurement of so-
competencies were selected for this study. Results sug- cial and emotional learning (SEL) programs that
gested two weak but significant correlations between teach EI to improve school behavior and academic
two barometers of health and scores in English-Lan- performance. Recent brain research has defined EI
guage Arts. Results revealed no statistically significant as a measurable connection in the human brain be-
correlations between student scores on the SEI-YV tween responses to emotions and their influence on
and the achievement tests among Iranian students at one’s actions (Bradberry, & Greaves, 2005). Edu-
elementary schools. cational programs that focus on SEL generally in-
struct children with curriculum designed to help
Keywords: emotional intelligence (EI), academic them understand and use EI abilities. Through
achievement, elementary school. SEL programming, children learn to recognize and
manage emotions, care about others, make good
Introduction decisions, behave ethically and responsibly, develop
positive relationships, and avoid negative behaviors
Adelman and Taylor (2000) believed that if schools (Elias et al., 1997).
pay only attention on academic instruction and school The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and
management in their efforts to help students attain Emotional Learning (CASEL) founded by Dan-
academic success, they are not able to achieve their iel Goleman, Tim Shriver, and Eileen Rockefeller
goals. Growald in 1994, has been studying effective Social

Corresponding author: Mahsome Azimifar, Department of Literature, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran.
E-mail: azimifar_57@yahoo.com.

Copyright © Mahsome Azimifar, 2013


European Online Journal of Natural and Social Sciences; vol.2, No. 2, pp. 216-222

216
Social science section

and Emotional Learning programs and the schools Purpose of study


implementing SEL programming. CASEL (2006), The purpose of this study was to investigate the
in its implementation guide for evidence-based relationship between EI-SEL programming and ac-
SEL programs, suggested that excellent SEL pro- ademic achievement among Iranian students at ele-
grams are characterized by two levels. The first level mentary level. Teacherswere trained through profes-
establishes safe, caring. well-managed learning en- sional development with the Six Seconds Emotional
vironments that lead to greater student attachment Intelligence Organization.
to school, less risky behavior on the part of students, In the selected schools, every teacher teaches EI
and better academic performance. The second level both formally and informally and they are allowed
supports positive student development and greater appropriate time to teach EI lessons. In addition,
academic success through instruction in a range of parents and children were also working together on
social and emotional competencies. the same concepts, creating a common language,
approach, and a sense of community through com-
Statement of the problem mon EI goals.
According to Elias and Arnold (2006), children
may be more influenced by physical ailments that Research question
deplete their energy and strength, as well as emo- Research questions designed to investigate the
tional difficulties that impede academic achieve- purposes provided above were as follows:
ment without emotional intelligence skills. Educa- Is there any relationship between the ability of
tors are learning that children suffer emotionally, Iranian students at elementary schools to demon-
intellectually, and physically when EI skills are not strate and use emotional intelligence competencies
part of a school culture (Elias & Arnold, ibid). and academic achievement?
The literature indicates that socially and ac-
ademically effective schools are distinguished by Review of literature
a systematic SEL component integrated into a
school’s everyday life and curriculum, yet very Emotional Intelligence
few schools implement effective whole-of-school Emotional Intelligence (EI) has been defined as
SEL programs in Iran. The problem is that public the ability to empathize, persevere, control impuls-
schools have some practices in place to prevent- es, communicate clearly, make thoughtful deci-
problem behavior and promote safe learning envi- sions, solve problems, and work with others in a way
ronments but research suggests that these programs that earns friends and success (Stone et al., 1998).
are ineffective because they are short-term and lack These abilities allow an individual to recognize and
connection to each other and integration into the regulate emotion, develop self-control, set goals,
curriculum and life of the school (CASEL, 2003). develop empathy, resolve conflicts, and develop
In addition, because of limited time and resources, skills needed for leadership and effective group par-
these programs tend to be implemented in short- ticipation (Elias, 2004).
term, with inadequate staff development and little Models of emotional intelligence
availability of support for the programs (Weisz & According to Mayer, Salovey, and Caruso
Hawley, 2002). (2002), there are three theories within the emotion-
Unfortunately, in Iran, no research has been al-intelligence paradigm. Each theory has devel-
done in elementary schools on prevention programs oped in the last decade as an attempt to explain the
although it is necessary to investigate a more com- abilities, traits, and competencies associated with
prehensive path in the quest to promote the health emotional intelligence.
and well-being of students attending elementary The first model developed by Mayer et al. (1997)
schools. CASEL (2003) has urged that schools adopt is called an ability model, which focuses on the con-
whole-of-school approaches to student health that structs that increase intelligence through the un-
teach emotional intelligence skills through school- derstanding of emotions. EI, in this model, repre-
based SEL programs. Little research is available on sents the potential for achieving mastery of specific
the relationship between EI-SEL programs and ac- abilities in the emotional intelligence domain.
ademic achievement among elementary schools in The second model, called trait model of EI, was
Iran. developed by Bar-On (2000) model. It measures EI

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through five composites: Interpersonal Skills, In- ademic group and type of EI. Results also indicated
trapersonal Skills, Stress Management, Adaptabil- that the successful group scored significantly high-
ity, and General Mood. Bar-On (1997) theorized er than the less successful on interpersonal abilities,
that emotionally intelligent people “are generally stress management, and adaptability.
optimistic, flexible, realistic, and successful at solv- Furthermore, some studies suggest that students
ing problems and coping with stress, without losing learn more effectively when they are encouraged to
control” (p. 156). have clear, positive goals and values and when they
The last model, which was developed by Gole- receive support in pursuing those academic goals
man’s model of EI (1998), is a competency model. In that will allow them to function well in society (Elias
this model, emotional intelligence in the context of et al., 1997). For example, Hoy and Hannum (1997)
work has been shown to inspire others to problem- conducted a study that defined school health (cli-
solve, cooperate, and work to find equitable ways to mate) in terms of healthy interpersonal dynamics be-
develop solutions that benefit all sides of a conflict tween students, teachers, and the principal. The pur-
(Goleman, Boyatzis, & McKee, 2002). According pose of this study was to investigate the relationship
to them, workers are more likely to give such leaders between school health and academic achievement.
bad news, allow problems to be addressed, and nec- The Organizational Health Inventory (OHI-RM)
essary changes to be carried out. was completed by teachers from 86 middle schools
in New Jersey, representing diverse geographic ar-
Academic achievement eas as well as a broad range of SES. Teachers attend-
Schools have been criticized for failing to edu- ing faculty meetings at all participating schools re-
cate children entrusted to them. Nowadays, educa- sponded. The total score on the OHI-RM was the
tors are very concerned with the achievement out- general measure of school health (GHI). Academ-
comes of their educational programs. It is necessary ic achievement was measured using New Jersey’s
for schools to establish plans for being safe and drug Eighth Grade Early Warning Test (EWT), given
free, close the achievement gap between high- and to all eighth-grade students in the state. The EWT
low-performing students, close the achievement gap measures achievement in reading, mathematics,
between disadvantaged children and their more ad- and writing. Correlations were calculated between
vantaged peers, prevent at-risk students from drop- the GHI and each aspect of student achievement.
ping out of school, and implement prevention pro- General school health was associated positively
grams that are grounded in scientific research and with achievement in mathematics (r = .61), reading
provide evidence of effectiveness. However, a re- (r = .58), and writing (r = .55). Multiple regression
view of the research yields inconclusive empirical analysis was performed using school climate inde-
evidence in support of a single best predictor of pos- pendent variables listed above.
itive academic outcomes. Regarding the research done in Iran, Khalili
Regarding the study done in this area, Parker et al. Azar (2007) studied the relation between EI of 60
(2004) studied the EI-SEL factors that might predict gifted and 60 normal students and its relation with
academic success in high school. Studying 667 stu- educational achievement. Emotional intelligence
dents attending a high school in Huntsville, Alabama and the students’ GPA of last school year were mea-
(304 males, 363 females), Parker et al. (ibid) com- sured. Based on the results, no significant differ-
pared scores on the subscales of the Bar-On Emotion- ence was found between emotional intelligence of
al Quotient Inventory for Youth (Bar-On EQ-i:YV) in normal and non-gifted students. Also, the relation-
groups who had achieved different levels of academic ship between emotional intelligence and academic
success. Students in the academically successful group achievement was not significant.
were those with a GPA in the 80th percentile for their In another study, Besharat, Shalchi, and Sham-
grade. Students in the less academically successful sipor (2006) studied the relation between EI and
group were those with a GPA in the 20th percentile for achievement. 360 pre-university students (180 girls
their grade. Parker et al. found a statistically significant and 180 boys) in the fields of humanities, experimen-
2-way interaction for gender and type of emotional in- tal sciences, and mathematics participated in the
telligence. Further, separate Univariate F tests found study. The subjects were asked to answer a question-
that females scored statistically significantly higher naire on emotional intelligence. Academic achieve-
than males on interpersonal ability. The only statisti- ment of students based on their high school average
cally significant 2-way interaction was between ac- was calculated. Statistical methods including fre-

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Social science section

quency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, vari- Instrumentation


ance analysis, correlation coefficients, and regression The Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence Assess-
analysis were done for data analysis. Results showed ment for Youth, Version 2.0 (SEI-YV) was used to col-
a positive correlation between emotional intelligence lect EI data. It was scored by the Six Seconds Emotion-
and academic achievement of students. al Intelligence Organization. The SEI-YV was designed
in 2006 to assess emotional intelligence abilities in chil-
Methodology dren ages 7 through 18. The SEI-YV 2.0, with 145 items,
was validated and refined on a sample of 2,697 youth
Participants from ages 7 to 18 from English-speaking countries
The study sample was comprised of 50 female around the world. Version 2.0 of this tool is a self-re-
students at two private elementary schools in Teh- port measure, validated with about 1,000 students from
ran. For this study, the ethnic-racial makeup of the schools in the San Francisco Bay Area, Texas, and sev-
two schools was very similar. The students in these eral countries. Version 2.0 consists of 74 items designed
schools are screened before entering school due to to assess factors that define emotional intelligence, plus
the different criteria regarded by the policy makers of an additional 25 items assessing five different barom-
these schools. eters of life that can be used as external criteria against
which the student’s EQ can be measured. Each of the
Research design items was based on a Likert-type scale from 1 to 5 (1 in-
This study was a mixed-methods research design. dicates almost never; 5 indicates almost always).
The researcher used a correlational design to inves- There are 11 items designed to measure emotional
tigate the possibility of a relationship between emo- literacy and seven items designed to identify and rec-
tional intelligence and academic achievement. Emo- ognize emotional patterns; these items comprise the
tional intelligence was measured by three composite “Know Yourself” composite score of the Six Seconds
scores on the SEI-YV, subscales for each of eight model of emotional intelligence. There are eight items
emotional intelligence factors, and scores on the measuring the application of consequential thinking,
five barometers of health measured by the SEI-YV. nine items designed to measure emotional navigation,
Academic achievement was measured by scores on nine items designed to measure engagement of intrin-
Mathematics and Science, developed by profession- sic motivation, and eight items designed to measure
al teachers at elementary level. Achievement tests optimism; these items comprise the “choose Your-
are given quarterly at both schools. Students at both self” composite score of the Six Seconds model. There
schools took achievement exams in two academic are nine items designed to measure empathy, and sev-
subjects. Therefore, as the main purpose of this study en items designed to measure action on noble goals;
was to investigate the possibility of a relationship be- these items comprise the “Give Yourself” composite
tween EI and Academic Achievement, the scores on score ofthe Six Seconds model. In addition, student
these measures in Science and Mathematics served as achievement was measured through the standardized
the variables for the data analysis. tests in mathematics and science
Regarding the reliability of the questionnaire,the
Data-collection methods internal consistency of the SEI-YV, was calculated us-
In order to collect data for this study, all partici- ing Cronbach’s coefficient alpha. Cronbach’s coeffi-
pants were first administered the SEI-YV, an emo- cient alpha for each of the factors on the SEI-YV were as
tional intelligence assessment inventory designed follows: EEL= .66; RCP = .69; EOP = .72; ACT = .69;
for elementary-school children. The average time to NVE = .70; ElM = .75; ICE = .78; PNG = .75.
complete the assessment was 20 minutes. Complet- As far as validity of this questionnaire was con-
ed assessments were scored by the Six Seconds Emo- cerned, the researcher asked two university profes-
tional Intelligence Organization. After coding the sors holding PhD to say their comments on the se-
response forms, the principals gave the SEI- YV re- lected test and questionnaire. Their comments were
sponse forms to the researcher for further analysis. taken into account during performing the tests.
Then, student achievement was measured by
using the standardized achievement test given to Data-analysis methods
all selected students. The test measures students’ First, a correlational analysis was obtained be-
achievement in mathematics and science using mul- tween the SE1-YV composite, factor, and barome-
tiple-choice items. ter scores and the degree of academic achievement as

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Social science section

measured to investigate whether a relationship exists ofthe three Composite, eight Factor, and five Ba-
between emotional intelligence and academic achieve- rometer measures of EI on the SEI-YV.
ment among elementary-school children. The quanti-
tative data from the SE1- YV was based on a Likert-type Conclusions
scale that yields standardized scores in three composite,
eight factor, and five barometer scores comprising E1. Results from the research question revealed no
Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were statistically significant correlations between student
used for correlating SEI-YV and achievement scores. scores on the SEI- YV and the achievement tests.
This result could be attributed to the homogenei-
Results and discussion ty of the samples selected for this study. The stu-
dents in both schools had the same characteristics
In order to answer the research question, the results from socioeconomic factors point of view. A major-
were analyzed as follows: ity of students in this study scored in the average to
Is there any relationship between the students’ above-average range on all eight EI competencies
ability to use emotional intelligence and academic measured by the SEI-YV. These results also may
achievement? also because ofthe quality and similarity ofsyllabus
Pearson Product-Moment correlation coefficients present in both elementary schools.
were computed for an investigation of the relation- By looking at the table 1, we can see that “Self-
ship between EI and academic achievement. Table 1 Efficacy”including Increase Empathy (ICE) and
contains the results. Pursue Noble Goals (PNG), emerged as a lower
score, perhapsbecause elementary students have
not matured sufficiently to acquire the highest-lev-
el competencies and integrate them with previously
acquired competencies. Studies done by Mayer, Sa-
Table 1. Pearson Product-Moment correlations
between EI and achievement tests in Iran. lovey, Caruso, and Sitarenios (2003) have suggested
that EI develops with age and experience while, in
SEI-YV Competencies Achievement tests this study, student perceptions of their own self-ef-
Math Science ficacy did not concur with the SEI- YV results.
Good health .04 -.4 The current study also found differences in learn-
Relationship quality .31 .07 ing El ability due to experience. Students who had
Life satisfaction .12 .2 already experienced EI training at lower level like
Personal achievement .14 -.03 kindergarten were placed in the high-El groups in
Self-efficacy .17 .02
comparison to those students who had not. A study
by Parker et al. (2004) found that students at sec-
Total EI -.02 .06
ondary level scored lower on total El ability, us-
Know yourself -.08 .03
ing the Bar-On EQ-i:YV as the measure of “El”,
Choose yourself .06 .08
than students who had been applying EI competen-
Give yourself .01 .13 cies longer. These studies suggested that exposure to
Enhance emotional literacy -.06 .08 El competencies and the opportunity to apply those
Recognize patterns -.04 -.07 competencies improved EI abilities.
Apply consequential thinking .04 -.03
Navigate emotion -.04 .08 Implications for educational practice
Engage intrinsic motivation .09 .03
Exercise optimism .11 .18 According to Hirschstein et al. (2007), EI-SEL
Increase empathy -.03 .16 programming can help schools become more ef-
Pursue noble goals .01 .07 fective at guiding children toward becoming liter-
ate, responsible, nonviolent, drug-free, and car-
ing adults. If Iranian schools become interested in
teaching EI competencies at the elementary-school
As it is clear from table 1, no statistically signifi- level, allowing students to learn to know them-
cant relationships were indicated between academ- selves and others, make responsible decisions, care
ic achievement in Mathematics or Science and any for others, and understand how to act, students will

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Social science section

integrate these principles into their everyday lives. telligence quick book: Everything you need to
Schools will become more caring places, children will know to put your EQ to work. Simon &Schus-
take risks and make mistakes in order to learn,and ac- ter, New York.
ademic achievement will improve in later grades (Di- Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional
Perna & Elliott, 2000; Wentzel, 1998). Learning (CASEL), 2003. Safe and sound: An
EI-SEL activities must be linked with other educational leader ‘s guide to evidence-based
school activities. All students in a school benefit social and emotionallearning(SEL) programs.
from being taught and given opportunities to prac- CASEL, Chicago, IL.
tice age-appropriate conflict resolution (Lantieri, DiPerna J.C., & Elliott S.N., 1999.Development
2003). Students need support and coping strategies and validation of the Academic Competence
for life’s difficulties so that stress is not able to shut Evaluation Scales.Journal of Psycho-educa-
down cognitive capabilities and reduce learning ca- tional Assessment. 17:207-225.
pabilities (Ledoux, 1994). Elias M.J., 2004. The connection between social-
Schools should practice community service to emotional learning and learning disabilities:
build empathy. Seligman (1995) has posited that the Implications for intervention. Learning Dis-
development of empathy is the first step to the suc- ability Quarterly. 27:53-64.
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pro social behavior. Research evidence has indicated tor’s guide to emotional intelligence and aca-
a direct and moderately strong correlation between demic achievement. Corwin Press, Thousand
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Finally, schools should involve parents in devel- Schwab-Stone M.E., & Shriver T.P., 1997. Pro-
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