Abstract:
This research was designed to examine the relationship of emotional intelligence
with demographic characteristics, academic achievement and cultural adjustment of the
university students. The study posits that emotional intelligence is a significant predictor
of academic achievement as well as cultural adjustment and that demographic
characteristics play a mediating role in these relationships. Cultural adjustment was also
considered a significant predictor of academic achievement of sojourner students that can
mediate the impact of emotional intelligence on academic achievement. Emotional
intelligence was also considered to be a mediating factor in the relationship of cultural
adjustment and academic achievement.
The participants of the study were 615 students studying in International Islamic
University Islamabad. BarOn EQi was used to measure emotional intelligence and
Cultural Adjustment Scale was used to measure adjustment level of the students.
Academic achievement was taken in terms of students’ CGPA after completing the first
semester in the university. Data was collected during Fall 2008 when the participants
were enrolled in their first semester in the university.
SPSS 12 was used for data analysis and various statistical measures including
correlation, regression, ANOVA and t-test, were applied to make inference from the
observed data. The results of the study supported the proposed hypotheses and revealed
significant relationships among the major variables of the study. Emotional intelligence
was found to be a significant predictor of academic achievement as well as cultural
adjustment, and cultural adjustment was found to be a significant predictor of academic
achievement. The mediating role of some demographic characteristics was also
confirmed.
In the light of the findings of the study, it was concluded that both emotional
intelligence and cultural adjustment are important factors that can affect the academic
achievement of university students. Some implications for education include training of
university students in emotional skills in order to prepare them better for practical life and
providing international students the opportunities to interact with the host community so
that they can better understand the new cultural and social environment
