Emotional inteligence and school achievmentAccording to popular opinion emotional intelligence (EI) predicts success at school, at work and in relationships as well or better than IQ. However, little research exists to support or refute that claim. This article examines the role of EI in school achievement. The subjects were 58 pupils (25 females and 33 males). School achievement was operationalized in two ways: firstly, as academic success and, secondly, as sociometric measurements of the ability to empathize with others and understand one’s own emotions. Sociometric nominations were completed by schoolmates. EI was measured with a Polish version (Jaworowska, Matczak, 2001) of the Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale (SEIS: Schutte, Malouff, Hall, Haggerty, Cooper, Golden, Dornheim, 1998) and a Polish version (Szczygieł, Kolańczyk, 2001) of the Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale (LEAS: Lane, Quinlan, Schwartz, Walker, Zeitlin, 1990). The SEIS is a measure of perceived EI in terms of individuals’ beliefs about their own emotional abilities. The LEAS is a verbal measure of emotional awareness. General intelligence and personality dimensions were controlled. The results of the study indicated that EI accounts for variance in academic success, and emotional awareness accounts for the number of sociometric nominations concerning empathy and ability to understand one’s own emotions. The research confirmed incremental validity of measures of EI above the level attributable to personality traits.
