The Correlation between Emotional Intelligence and Academic Achievement on Nursing and Midwifery Students

Emotional intelligence can be considered as one of the leading factors influencing different aspects of one's life that leads individuals to percept their feelings for appropriate decision making and fields for future accomplishments. Because of controversies in the studies about the role of emotional intelligence in academic achievement, the aim of this study has been done to determine the correlation between emotional intelligence and academic achievement on nursing and midwifery students.
Material & This is a descriptive-analytic study conducted on 350 nursing and midwifery students who are studying at Islamic Azad University of Rasht in 2013-2014 years. The emotional intelligence questionnaire by Sibria Shiring has been used to determine the level of emotional intelligence among the students. The academic success was measured by the prior semester grade point average. Data analysis was performed by descriptive and inferential statistics (Independent t-test, chi-square and Pearson correlation test) using SPSS (v/16).
The mean score of emotional intelligence among nursing and midwifery students was 82/01 ± 13/56 and 76/06±16/11, respectively. The results has been showed significant difference between mean scores of emotional intelligence in different age groups of students (P The results obtained indicate correlation between emotional intelligence and academic achievement of students. The concept of emotional intelligence should be included in educational planning of students. It will be help them to use better strategies when faced with social and academic problems, as a result will be reduced the academic failure.