LIFE SATISFACTION OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN RELATION TO THEIR EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE by Scholarly Research Journal"s

Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies, Online ISSN 2278-8808, SJIF 2016 = 6.17, www.srjis.com UGC Approved Sr. No.45269, JULY-AUG 2017, VOL- 4/35

LIFE SATISFACTION OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN RELATION TO THEIR EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE Maninder Kaur & N. R. Sharma, Ph. D. 1

Assistant Professor, Khalsa College Of Education, Amritsar

Principal, Panjab University Constituent College Guru Har Sahai Scholarly Research Journal's is licensed Based on a work at www.srjis.com

The education system of any country reveals its real state of development. Every citizen has the right to demand an education system that is capable of solving his present day problems and raising his life to the level of prosperity and happiness, so that he can also contribute towards national development. Education is what is left behind after one has forgotten what he has learnt in the classroom. It is something that stays with him for the rest of his life and stands by him when he needs it. Education equips the individual with adequate knowledge, skills and disposition and helps him to become self-sustaining individual. It forms the basis of lifelong learning and inspires confidence to face challenges of life, adjust and move up in the new world with acquired aspirations, values and moral commitments that constitute the rudiments of their philosophy of life. This philosophy of life helps him to choose the kind of future they want for themselves. Education enables him to become more aware and self-reliant, so that he is able to display high level of autonomy in his behavior and lead a meaningful life which is free from illusions, worries and anxieties of daily life by making different types of adjustments. Only then he can lead a peaceful and satisfied life. Life satisfaction is the central aspect of human welfare. It is the goal which every human being strives to achieve throughout his life. Attaining life satisfaction is important for the youth, who is facing a tough competition in today's fiercely competitive environment and is expected to choose or to make progress toward choosing a course of study/occupation that will provide economic selfsupport in his future life. He has to take crucial decisions regarding his ensuing life (by choice or compulsion or default) that frequently have lasting consequences throughout rest of his Copyright ÂŠ 2017, Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies

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life. Any right decision made by him leads to satisfaction and wrong decision may lead to dissatisfaction. Among the different domains which influence life satisfaction of individuals, emotional intelligence is considered to be very important. Emotions play a significant role in directing and shaping behavior and personality of an individual. Some persons are highly aware of their own emotions and their thoughts about them, but others seem to be as almost totally oblivious or unconscious of these. In an age where there is enormous psychological pressure on the youth to perform well and succeed in life, life satisfaction depends on managing ourselves and handling our relationships more artfully. A person who has developed emotional intelligence is better equipped not only to monitor his own and others' feelings and emotions but is also able to discriminate among them. Educational institutions play a pivotal role in helping the youth to learn, overcome and to break tensions, worries, anxieties of daily life by dispelling mental illusions and cultivating good thinking, knowledge, attitudes, values etc. Educational institutions at all levels should not go on focussing on mere academic performance, to the exclusion of other dimensions of balanced development, rather they should work towards the enhancement of maintaining harmony between the inner and outer self so that youth of today is able to lead a peaceful and meaningful life. Teacher with the intellectual characteristics of a divergent thinker must foster an educative process which should enable the youth to use his both cognitive and emotional capabilities so that he can handle any situation, accomplish any task successfully and move in the new world with greater confidence and autonomy. This would lead to better adjustment of the youth in the society and hence give him satisfaction in life. The focus of the present study is to study life satisfaction of youth of today who have been educated for about seventeen years. It is also to explore the relationship of life satisfaction with emotional intelligence . The knowledge of these variables may enable the teachers and parents to create an educational environment in the class room and at home, which is conducive to the development of life satisfaction. Copyright ÂŠ 2017, Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies

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The findings of the present study may attract the attention of the educationists and parents to help the youth in his decision making ability so that he is able to adapt and deal effectively with the environment. It would further contribute towards his psychological and social well-being and ultimately give him satisfaction in life. The findings might be helpful to the educationists, administrators and parents to take measures which could contribute towards increasing the level of life satisfaction. Studies Related To Life Satisfaction And Emotional Intelligence Wong, Wong and Chau (2001) conducted an exploratory study in Hong Kong on emotional intelligence, student's attitude towards life and the attainment of education goals. A group of 30 University students helped generate emotional intelligence items and 20 of these items were selected empirically from the responses of another 100 university students. The study indicated that emotional intelligence is positively related to life satisfaction, and performance in moral, social and intellectual development. It is also negatively related to powerlessness in life. Vladimir and Tamara (2006) conducted a study to determine the relationship between emotional intelligence and various indicators of quality of life. The study reported that emotional intelligence and competence have a strong relationship with the life satisfaction across the various samples. Moon and Kyeong (2009) examined differences in emotional intelligence, social competencies and school life satisfaction between institutionalized and home reared children. Significant differences were found in emotional intelligence, social competence and school life satisfaction between institutionalized and home reared children. Positive correlations were established among emotional intelligence, social competence and school life satisfaction for both groups of children. Salami (2010) examined how emotional intelligence, self-efficacy and psychological well-being contributed to student's behaviors and attitudes. This research indicated the need to emphasize positive psychology in improving the positive elements in students proactively

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rather than retroactively trying to solve problems that emerged in order to improve the quality of higher education. Ghorbanshirondi, Khalatbari, Salem, Bahari and Keikhafarzaneh (2011) examined the relationship between emotional intelligence and life satisfaction and determined their communication skill training effectiveness. The study group included all the students of Islamic Azad University, Sarab branch in the school year 2008-09.The results showed a significant relationship between emotional intelligence and life satisfaction. Communication skill training significantly enhanced the emotional intelligence and life satisfaction. Runcan and IOVU (2011) examined a mediation model for the relationship between emotional intelligence and life satisfaction for students. Self-esteem and social support were used as mediators. The participants were 131 Romanian under-graduate students. Bootstrap analysis showed that both self-esteem and social support partially mediated the relationship between emotional intelligence and life satisfaction. Kong, Zhao and You(2012) examined both the mediation effects of social support and self-esteem for the relationship between trait emotional intelligence and life satisfaction in early adolescence. The participants were 489 Chinese college students with an age range of 17-23 years. Path analysis showed that social support and self-esteem fully mediated the relationship between trait emotional intelligence and life satisfaction in late adolescence. Moreover, a multi-analysis indicated that males with high social support were more likely to gain greater life satisfaction than the female counterparts. Jisha (2014) concluded that IQ alone is no more the only measure of success, but emotional intelligence and social intelligence play a big role in person's success. Hafiz and Chauhan (2015) investigated the impact of emotional intelligence on life satisfaction among university employees in which each group was divided into high and low group. The results revealed that those who scored higher on emotional intelligence had higher life satisfaction than those who had low scores. Moreover the results reported that the main effect of gender on life satisfaction was also significant i.e. males scored higher on Emotional

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Intelligence Scale than females. The interactive effect of gender and emotional intelligence and life satisfaction was statistically non-significant. Mashinchi (2015) investigated the relationship of spiritual and emotional intelligence with life satisfaction of the students of Azad University of Lamard. The results showed that emotional intelligence and spiritual intelligence could be considered as the basic components for increasing life satisfaction of all groups of people specifically students, although in some cases, they both did not have the required relation with variables such as gender. Thus, emotional intelligence seems to play a significant role in determining life satisfaction of a person. The present study was undertaken to study life satisfaction of undergraduate students in relation to their emotional intelligence . OBJECTIVES The present investigation Life Satisfaction Of Undergraduate Students In Relation To Their Emotional Intelligence has been undertaken keeping in view the following objectives: 1. To investigate the relationship between life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of undergraduate students. 2. To investigate the relationship between life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of male students. 3. To investigate the relationship between life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of female students. 4. To investigate the relationship between life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of rural students. 5. To investigate the relationship between life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of urban students. HYPOTHESES Following hypotheses are formulated for verification: 1. There will be no significant relationship between life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of undergraduate students.

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2. There will be no significant relationship between life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of male students. 3. There will be no significant relationship between life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of female students. 4. There will be no significant relationship between life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of rural students. 5. There will be no significant relationship between life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of urban students. SAMPLE Total sample of 500 undergraduate students (male and female) was selected randomly from government, government - aided and private colleges affiliated to Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. RESEARCH DESIGN The present study falls under the domain of descriptive survey research. TOOLS USED The following tools were used to collect the data: 1. Life Satisfaction Scale (2011) developed by Srivastava. 2. Emotional Intelligence Inventory (2012) developed by Mangal and Mangal. Results And Discussions 1) There will be no significant relationship between life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of undergraduate students. In order to verify hypothesis 1, Karl Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation was applied and results are presented in Table 1. Table 1 Correlation between life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of undergraduate students Variables Life Satisfaction and Emotional Intelligence

N 500

Value of ‘r’ 0.575**

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A close scrutiny at Table 1 clearly reveals that the value of coefficient of correlation between life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of undergraduate students is 0.575(df=498), which was found to be significant at 0.01 level of significance. The magnitude of correlation indicates that life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of undergraduate students bear a positive and significant relationship with each other i.e. higher the level of emotional intelligence of undergraduate students, higher will be the satisfaction with life. Thus the null hypothesis 1, “There will be no significant relationship between life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of undergraduate students” is not accepted. The results of the present hypothesis are supported by the findings of Wong,Wong &Chau(2001),Vladimir & Tamara(2006),Ghorbanshirondi, Khalatbari, Salem, Bahari & Keikhafarzaneh (2011), Runcan and IOVU(2011), Thingujam(2011), Kong, Zhao & Mou(2012) and Mashinchi (2015) who reported that emotional intelligence is positively related to life satisfaction of students. In an age where there is enormous psychological pressure on the youth to perform well and succeed in life, life satisfaction depends on managing ourselves and handling our relationships more artfully. A person who has developed emotional intelligence is better equipped not only to monitor his own and others' feelings and emotions but is also able to discriminate among them. Anyone who is able to manage himself and understand the emotions of others, succeeds in avoiding conflicting situations and hence remains satisfied with life. 2) There will be no significant relationship between life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of male students. In order to verify Hypothesis 2, Karl Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation was applied and results are presented in Table 2. Table 2 Correlation between life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of male students Variables Life Satisfaction intelligence

N and

Value ‘r’

emotional 250 0.634**

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(Critical Value r=0.089 at 0.05 and 0.115 at 0.01 level of confidence, df 248) A close scrutiny at Table 2 clearly reveals that the value of coefficient of correlation between life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of male students is 0.634 (df=248), which was found to be significant at 0.01 level of significance. The magnitude of correlation indicates that life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of male students bear a positive and significant relationship with each other i.e. higher the level of emotional intelligence of male students, higher will be the satisfaction with life. Thus, the null hypothesis 2, “There will be no significant relationship between life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of male students” is not accepted. The results of the present study are in tune with the findings of Kong, Zhao and Mou (2012) and Hafiz and Chauhan (2015) who reported that the male adolescents with high social support are more likely to gain greater life satisfaction than the female counterparts. Agencies of socialisation play an important role in how children learn gender roles. Studies on mother-infant interaction show differences in the treatment of boys and girls even when parents believe their reactions to both are the same (Zammuner, 1986).It is generally observed that gender identities are learnt by children during their interactions with other family members. Usually, the males become more self-confident, optimistic and adaptable over years because they are nourished and groomed in this manner. Thus they are able to handle their emotions in any situation confronting them. It gradually builds their ability to deal successfully with other people and with their own feelings. Hence they feel more satisfied. 3) There will be no significant relationship between life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of female students. In order to verify Hypothesis 3, Karl Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation was applied and results are presented in Table 3.

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Table 3 Correlation between life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of female students Variables Life Satisfaction and emotional intelligence

N 250

Value of ‘r’ 0.513**

** Significant at 0.01 level (Critical Value r=0.089 at 0.05 and 0.115 at 0.01 level of confidence, df 248) A perusal of the results entered in Table 3 clearly reveals that the value of coefficient of correlation between life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of female students is 0.513(df=248), which was found to be significant at 0.01 level of significance. The magnitude of correlation indicates that life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of female students bear a positive and significant relationship with each other i.e. higher the level of emotional intelligence of female students, higher will be the satisfaction with life. Thus, the null hypothesis 3, “There will be no significant relationship between life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of female students” is not accepted. The result of the present hypothesis fell in line with the findings of Ungur and Karagozoglu (2013),Aranda, Extremera and Galan (2014) and Mirkhan, Shakerinia, Kafi and Khalilzade (2014) who showed that there is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and life satisfaction and also a positive correlation between happiness and life satisfaction of female students. The social roles one adopts are dependent on one’s social status and a person's social status often differs with the social context. Sociologically, roles are socially defined expectations that a person in a given status or position follows. However sociologists also distinguish between ascribed status and achieved status. It has been observed that the most common status is based on 'gender' and 'race'. Goffman argues that how we act depends on the roles we are playing in particular situations and times. In the changing scenario of India, the role of females is also changing because they are also allowed to go for higher education and in this process, they not only get an opportunity to interact and understand others but also

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learn to control their emotions. Moreover, getting educational rights is a satisfying experience. 4) There will be no significant relationship between life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of rural students. In order to verify Hypothesis 4, Karl Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation was applied and results are presented in Table 4. Table 4 Correlation between life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of rural students Variables Life Satisfaction and emotional intelligence

N 263

Value of ‘r’ 0.545**

** Significant at 0.01 level (Critical Value r=0.089 at 0.05 and 0.115 at 0.01 level of confidence, df 261) A scrutiny of the results entered in Table 4 clearly reveals that the value of coefficient of correlation between life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of rural students is 0.545(df=261), which was found to be significant at 0.01 level of significance. The magnitude of correlation indicates that life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of rural students bear a positive and significant relationship with each other i.e. higher the level of emotional intelligence of rural students, higher will be the satisfaction with life. Thus, the null hypothesis 4, “There will be no significant relationship between life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of rural students” is not accepted. The investigator could not find any study in support of the results of the present hypothesis . However the results of the study by Murphy (2006) indicate that emotional intelligence is not an important predictor of subjective well-being among community college students. Emotionally intelligent person is one who has capacity to reason his emotions in four areas i.e. they know how to perceive emotions of others, how to integrate it in their thought and how to understand and manage it effectively. Emotionally intelligent people have more developed abilities and capacities with regard to dealings with one's emotions (Mayer and Copyright © 2017, Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies

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Salovey, 1997). People from rural background are also more proficient in 4A's as Lautenschlager (1997) believes in. These 4A’s of emotional intelligence are : Awareness i.e. they are more aware of feelings of others; Acceptance i.e. they believe in acceptance which may not be rational; Attitude i.e. they have attitude that are attached to their emotions and finally Action i.e. they take actions, which are based on emotions and attitude. This ultimately helps them to realize happiness and welfare of self which is in tune with the happiness of others. 5) There will be no significant relationship between life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of urban students . In order to verify Hypothesis 5, Karl Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation was applied and results are presented in Table 5. Table 5 Correlation between life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of urban students Variables Life Satisfaction and emotional intelligence

N 237

Value of ‘r’ 0.611**

** Significant at 0.01 level (Critical Value 0.089 at 0.05 and 0.115 at 0.01 level of confidence, df 235) A careful glance at the results entered in Table 5 clearly reveals that the value of coefficient of correlation between life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of urban students is 0.611 (df=235), which was found to be significant at 0.01 level of significance. The magnitude of correlation indicates that life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of urban students bear a positive and significant relationship with each other i.e. higher the level of emotional intelligence of urban students, higher will be the satisfaction with life. Thus, the null hypothesis 5, “There will be no significant relationship between life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of urban students” is not accepted. The investigator could not find any study in support of the results of the present hypothesis.

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However the results of the study done by Murphy (2006) indicate that emotional intelligence is not an important predictor of subjective well-being among community college students. Urban areas are self-contained entities that stand apart from the predominantly rural areas in which they are located. Research evidence has shown that people from urban background are active, environmentally knowledgeable and committed citizens who are prepared to change their routine, habitual everyday actions to improve the quality of their life. Kalhotra (2014) in his research has concluded that students from urban background have good altruistic behavior, meaning thereby that they deliberately work for the welfare of others. He also concluded that urban students believe more in power of integrity which refers to the quality of a person's character. It also involves being responsible for what you seek and undertake in life and being able to own up one's own faults in case of failures, which are unique characteristics of emotionally intelligent persons. These psychological abilities are directly related to life satisfaction. Hence, it can be safely inferred that life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of urban students are significantly related with each other. FINDINGS The following conclusions were drawn: 1)

There was a significant relationship between life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of undergraduate students.

There was a significant relationship between life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of male students.

There was a significant relationship between life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of female students.

There was a significant relationship between life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of rural students.

There was a significant relationship between life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of urban students.

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EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS: The results of the present study indicate that there is a positive and significant relationship between life satisfaction and emotional intelligence of undergraduate students. So it is implied that curricular and co-curricular activities undertaken to enhance emotional intelligence can play a pivotal role in the students to achieve higher level of life satisfaction. The following are the educational implications on the basis of the present study: 1. Parent-teacher meetings should be conducted every month so that the students could be known better by teachers and parents and if any student is having any dissatisfaction or is having some maladjustment, proper measures could be undertaken both by parents and teachers. 2. Each and every teacher should provide emotional security to the students in the colleges/universities, so that they may develop their personality harmoniously otherwise they may become anxious which may be harmful to them. 3. A teacher should try to inculcate healthy and worthy emotions in the students which may lead them to do some creative work. 4. Methods of teaching of the teacher should also be effective so that the energies of the students are utilized properly and their emotions may automatically be redirected for the cause of the society. 5. The awareness of the needs to enhance the studentsâ€™ academic skills through balancing of emotions should be given emphasis in the current educational system. 6. Group activities should be organized so that the students learn to manage their own emotions and emotions of others. 7. Educational

and

Vocational

Guidance

Cells

should

created

the

colleges/universities. 8. Colleges/universities should provide counselling services to the students of both professional and non-professional courses.

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