Exploring the association between emotional intelligence and social isolation and its impact on university students' academic achievement

Abstract

Social isolation and emotional intelligence are important predictors of academic performance in students. The purpose of this study is to analyze the association between social isolation and emotional intelligence among university students, as well as examine how they contribute to an individual's academic success. A total of 1000 university students were randomly sampled from a cross-sectional dataset for this research. Multinomial logistic regression was employed to model these associations. Findings showed that younger students (aged 16-25 years), who had a CGPA of 2.00-3.00 were at a much greater risk than older students to be within this range (AOR= 5.79; p= .000). Students who reported feeling socially isolated (i.e., no one to speak to), were also found to be at greater risk for lower GPAs (AOR = 0.209; p= .000). The statistical analysis shows that there exists a very significant relationship between students' emotional and social factors and their academic acaheivement. Institutions should develop specific strategies to reduce social isolation and promote students' emotional intelligence to improve students' academic performance.